tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-263987132024-03-14T08:10:32.305-05:00everyone loves a naijababethe musings of a nigerian-american thirty-something. read on to find stories about the somewhat boring, often quirky life that i lead ....naijababelovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15470486361838014099noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-13503771925676145932011-03-31T09:33:00.006-05:002011-03-31T11:22:16.113-05:00bless the little children<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5nOD_OYegVYpEwAZMqKnzfIU2B8P2ttInFXSaN6jTPvZcOsLvanlpHGlOMoA71uRjXHRd6CIbm6CJeb-2x0Wmw01QehwbW2Rr9y0pei8pISOarJHWbWA44GWDOc9kSyrP0XNEA/s1600/DSC04023.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5nOD_OYegVYpEwAZMqKnzfIU2B8P2ttInFXSaN6jTPvZcOsLvanlpHGlOMoA71uRjXHRd6CIbm6CJeb-2x0Wmw01QehwbW2Rr9y0pei8pISOarJHWbWA44GWDOc9kSyrP0XNEA/s400/DSC04023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5590277958771227410" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />oops, <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2011/02/shortest-month-of-year.html">i did it again</a>. so, it's been a whole 'nother month since my last post. i've still been super busy, but i do have a lot to share. babylove's first birthday party was this past weekend. since she's now officially a big girl, i might need to come up with a different name for her besides babylove. any ideas?<br /><br />i didn't have my camera with me as it has been m.i.a. for a little while, so i'm still waiting for pictures from friends so that i can share them here. things turned out really well and everyone seemed to have a good time.<br /><br />as my little girl grows up, i've been faced with the reality that my illusion of the perfectly structured life that i had for myself was just that, an illusion. i've really had to deal with letting go of my desire to be in control of all aspects of my and her lives. i think it's the chaos theory that states that once an event happens, it sets in motion a sequence of events that in turn affect other things ad infinitum. okay, so maybe part of that was <a href="http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/butterfly-effect/trailer">the butterfly effect</a>, but you get the idea. without the benefit of knowing the future, there's really nothing we can do to change whatever the end result of our choices will be.<br /><br />my first adjustment came soon after giving birth, when i had to turn my newly born kid over to the nurses and doctors for awhile for them to do their nursing and doctoring on her. now, some of y'all might know that i have a slightly overactive imagination (fueled by watching way too many episodes of <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/">dateline</a> and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/48hours/main3410.shtml">48 hours mystery</a>). but, after 9+ months of being her only protector, this was very hard for me.<br /><br />i kid you not, i actually searched my baby for identifying features before i would hand her over just to make sure that i could tell if they brought back the wrong baby. hey, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=switched+at+birth&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a">it could happen</a>!<br /><br />then, came the grandparents, family members and well meaning strangers with their advice and traditions and idiosyncracies. i really had to learn to let most of it roll off of my back (a lesson i'm still trying to learn, by the way) and to only intervene when i felt it was absolutely necessary. in other words, pick my battles. but that's going off into a whole other topic which i may or may not get into...<br /><br />back to my original point, which is: once you pop out your kid, they become a member of a circle of family and friends and the world at large. most of these people have good intentions, but that doesn't always translate to what is best. case in point, babylove's new daycare teacher that loves to try to tame my kid's curls by pulling her hair into too tight ponytails when she gets to school. yeah, i know she means well, but after the third or fourth time in a week...we may have to have a talk soon.<br /><br />and while there seem to be pretty straightforward ways to physically shield your kids from people like kidnappers and pedophiles, how do you protect their minds from the influence of their future peers, or images on television, or facebook? how do you protect them from people that you YOURSELF have <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/falkenberg/7446884.html">entrusted to care for them</a>?<br /><br />as a parent, i know i've fixated on things like breastfeeding for the full 12 months, keeping her away from second-hand (and <a href="http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20110113/risks-of-thirdhand-cigarette-smoke-can-linger">third-hand</a>!) smoke and having her in a rear-facing car seat until she's two. but the bottom line is that despite our best efforts to love and protect our kids while they are still kids, they are their own independent beings who will one day have to stand on their own two feet and make their own decisions.<br /><br />unfortunately for two families that i've recently learned about, their <a href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/teens/binge-drinking-killed-shelby-allen">daughter</a> and <a href="http://mamapundit.com/2011/03/new-story-on-henrys-case-at-the-daily-beast/">son</a> both unwittingly made choices that started the chain of events that ultimately ended up costing them their lives. their stories are just heartbreaking and i can't imagine the pain that these parents must feel.<br /><br />i really feel that the only defense that i have against the uncertainty is my christian faith. i've always been a believer, but i want to actively show my daughter what it means to have faith in God. just like i try to give her an appreciation for books by reading to her, i want her faith to be something that she will learn from her parents and continue to embrace as she gets older. i say prayers with her every night before she goes to bed and we go to church on sundays. she even goes to a christian daycare, but i want to make sure that i'm doing my part to instill those values in her.<br /><br />i started a new practice of actually <a href="http://www.prayingscriptures.com/children.shtml">praying for her</a> (and my future unborn kiddos) daily and just speaking God's word and promises over her life. even though i haven't heard any <a href="http://www.allthingsgd.com/2011/03/my-own-little-eat-pray-love-story.html">direct messages</a> from God about her so far, i figured that prayer would be a better alternative than locking her in her room for the rest of her life.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">has becoming a parent changed your outlook on life and the world? how so?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">click on the links for more information about </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://shelbysrules.com/">shelby allen</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> and </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://mamapundit.com/2011/03/its-time-to-go-fully-public-with-what-really-happened-to-my-son-henry-granju/">henry granju</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.<br /><br /><br /></span>naijababelovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15470486361838014099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-47798319768824734392011-02-10T15:33:00.009-06:002011-03-10T12:02:56.309-06:00the shortest month of the year<div>i can't believe it's march already! where did the time go? i know february is the shortest month of the year, but MAN!<br /><br />i've had so much going on at work, and home and on the side, that i haven't even had the time or energy to write about it. i have been on my major grind/hustle (grustle?) in the last month or so. i hope to share details and good news sometime soon.<br /><br />since i was m.i.a. the whole month of february, let me give you a quick recap:<br />at the beginning of the month, the <a href="http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/45">biggest game in sports</a> took place in my hometown. with ticket prices running north of $500 (for the cheap seats!), we definitely weren't going to make the game, but i still wanted to experience a little piece of the action so we drove up from h-town and hang out while giving my folks some always appreciated time with babylove. gotta love free babysitting.</div><br />after almost having to scrap our plans due to a freak winter <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7937356">ice storm</a> we ended up taking in a comedy show, and babylove got to experience her first taste (literally) of snow since it came down really heavy in the dallas area.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAU6Cb_TBnI4zXLhBUlZOX_ImuxxsIbXj0wkcBFagGAua1Iimljqof_tCOh8vUc0_cIgGwqviJcOe2Xx_i8QfVhWwvVMLzTT14gcsslTwyeno2jd-n5KKo6jUX9QMuGATcY7Ktw/s1600/DSC03975.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAU6Cb_TBnI4zXLhBUlZOX_ImuxxsIbXj0wkcBFagGAua1Iimljqof_tCOh8vUc0_cIgGwqviJcOe2Xx_i8QfVhWwvVMLzTT14gcsslTwyeno2jd-n5KKo6jUX9QMuGATcY7Ktw/s400/DSC03975.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582506359201269826" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">she's so fricking cute</span>!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoz3SFsAuXN04OlMNDsdWrGOox5Kbn7oexkynAJzqhUxF0MngJiKNGRw86lMP_y5c18ug8H8gYGNePhLQsrfFhGBl9h-imnoAj1cBHMVz43GM6gA1JGFDnhoKmJoLD7AyMJo11fg/s1600/DSC03974.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoz3SFsAuXN04OlMNDsdWrGOox5Kbn7oexkynAJzqhUxF0MngJiKNGRw86lMP_y5c18ug8H8gYGNePhLQsrfFhGBl9h-imnoAj1cBHMVz43GM6gA1JGFDnhoKmJoLD7AyMJo11fg/s400/DSC03974.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582506294400420546" border="0" /></a><br /><br />we ended up having a cool time with my family before heading back to houston.<br /><br />i started back working out with a vengeance all through the month and even had a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to kick-start me into getting back in shape in time for babylove's first birthday, which is coming up soon. i'm trying to avoid being that chick that blames the loss of her figure on having a baby, even though said "baby" is now 6 years old. <br /><br />i'm not really big on weighing myself, which i should probably start doing since i'm convinced that i have <a href="http://www.healthyplace.com/eating-disorders/main/body-dysmorphic-disorder/menu-id-58/">body dysmorphia</a> when it comes to my weight. but a few of my clothes are getting looser and my hubby has even noticed, so i guess i'm on the right track. <br /><br />the trainer did take some baseline measurements, but i never got the ending measurements. it was one of those <a href="http://www.groupon.com/subscriptions/new?division_p=houston">groupon</a> deals where i got 3 free sessions for super cheap. but the whole time i was really dreading the hard sell at the end, so after my 3rd (and supposedly final) session, when the trainer offered to let me come one more time, i took that as the perfect opportunity to later cancel by text, thereby eliminating any <a href="http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2011/03/10/6218785-dont-like-to-call-youre-not-alone">awkward interactions</a> on my part. yay for texting!<br /><br />i've already started march off with a bang, but the one thing that i've started doing in the last few weeks is to really take time out daily to read my Bible and meditate on the word and try to really figure out what God has in store for me. i'm just bursting with ideas and don't even the energy to get everything done, so i just want to make sure that i'm on the right path and using my time and resources as wisely as possible.<br /><br />until next time...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div> </div>naijababelovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15470486361838014099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-77331283403960908902011-01-26T15:07:00.015-06:002011-02-01T11:47:37.226-06:00retail therapy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQ9l94S4DhPAOWkdhaetJCxcglNI09ixo30GjPfpAoozp6oF_FfNpsXrO5Gb_Kxezjg39dTJDs61P-QslHVFbQBYHt8qVhmZMd8LuHUF2txvplss7LBsQZGuIzDsAXUgo6TMD-w/s1600/RetailTherapy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568778331242629986" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQ9l94S4DhPAOWkdhaetJCxcglNI09ixo30GjPfpAoozp6oF_FfNpsXrO5Gb_Kxezjg39dTJDs61P-QslHVFbQBYHt8qVhmZMd8LuHUF2txvplss7LBsQZGuIzDsAXUgo6TMD-w/s400/RetailTherapy.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div></div><div></div><div>i was off of work on MLK day and decided to drop babylove off at daycare and take a day for myself. i had a rough start because i was sick, it was overcast and cold outside and seemed like it would start pouring at any minute. not good since i had an appointment to get my hair blown out first thing in the morning. blowouts + rain = no bueno. i grabbed the first outfit i could get my hands on, and looking far from on point, i rushed out to my appointment.<br /><br />afterwards, i fully intended to head home and take shelter within the confines of my bed. but i had to run to target to buy diapers for the little one. while i was there, i strolled through the dollar section, which is hands-down my favorite place in the store. where else can you find so many things that you never knew that you needed--and for only a dollar? </div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqpHMlxO40tTLZev3FJ9hs0ST54m9jMhHxKubMzXaTMqE1MeRjQUmaonisoCejJMNZChJAyF8PUvENaCHWYASUBrHu8NJW1Du8gHnt14Ci2TA2fLAmkowToemp-SZHwrySsVe7A/s1600/DSC03962.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568759330511132530" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqpHMlxO40tTLZev3FJ9hs0ST54m9jMhHxKubMzXaTMqE1MeRjQUmaonisoCejJMNZChJAyF8PUvENaCHWYASUBrHu8NJW1Du8gHnt14Ci2TA2fLAmkowToemp-SZHwrySsVe7A/s400/DSC03962.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div><em><span style="font-size:78%;">scarf hanger for my pashminas, books for bablove and picture frames for grandmas</span></em><br /></div><br /><div>after trolling through the dollar section, i decided to take a look at the clothing section-specifically "office"-y clothes. i'm pretty happy with my current selection of clothes, except for one big problem-70% of them don't fit since having the baby. i've already met with a personal trainer and fully intend to lose at least 10lbs in the next few months to get back into my pre-baby clothes, plus a few more to get back to my target weight. </div><div></div><br /><div>but since i got rid during of a big bag of things that don't really match my style anymore during the <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-old-me.html">closet purge of 2011</a>, i feel like i have absolutely nothing to wear and it's become a chore to try to piece together my outfits each morning. </div><div></div><br /><div>right then, i decided that it was time for a retail intervention. no more squeezing into ill-fitting clothes that accentuate problem areas and shoot holes in my self image. i needed to pick up a few new basics hat actually fit me at my current size. </div><div></div><br /><div>i bought <a href="http://www.target.com/Mossimo-TRS-Curvy-Pant-Herringbone/dp/B003OR83CI/ref=br_1_7?ie=UTF8&id=Mossimo%20TRS%20Curvy%20Pant%20Herringbone&node=16429951&searchSize=30&searchView=grid3&searchPage=1&sr=1-7&qid=1296060366&rh=&searchBinNameList=target_com_size-bi">two pairs of pants</a> in black and dark gray, and i also bought a cute reinforced <a href="http://www.target.com/Merona-Double-Layer-Cami-Cement/dp/B003ZE1FXY/ref=sc_qi_detaillink">cami</a> for layering under shirts that can't quite button all the way yet. i was on a roll by this point, so i checked out the shoe section but didn't see anything that i wanted there, but i did pick up a pair of gray tights.</div><div></div><br /><div>by the time i left target, i was in a much better mood. the sun was shining outside, which i took as a positive affirmation of my efforts, so i decided that some new shoes would go well with my new attitude.</div><div></div><div> </div><div>i only had 3 hours left until it was time to pick up babylove from daycare, so i headed over to the <a href="http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=1253">nearest outlet mall</a> to hit up the most stores in a limited amount of time.</div><div></div><div> </div><div>sometime during the last 20 odd months that i was pregnant and then adjusting to being a new mom, something happened that caught me totally off guard: the pointy-toed look went completely out of style. as the owner of more than a few pairs of pointy boots and pumps i was looking (and feeling) a little outdated. </div><div> </div><div>now, back in the day, i would go all out with the shoe shopping. we're talking scouring the internet, dsw and the department stores. but with the introduction of daycare bills and baby food, i planned to part with as few dollars as possible in my quest to find the cutest trendy boot on a budget.</div><div></div><br /><div>i ended up with these <a href="http://www.charlotterusse.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4097620&cp=4238904.10965636">knee length slouchy boots</a> that were on sale in the store for $25. i stopped by another shoe stores to get a pair of <a href="http://www.offbroadwayshoes.com/shoes/women.da/womensdress">cute black pumps</a> to replace the pointy ones that i usually wear to work. i was looking for a pair of knee high brown leather slouchy boots, but struck out on that one.</div><div></div><div> </div><div>i did pick up a few more <a href="http://www.charlotterusse.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3947951&cp=4078198.11025267.4238887">camis</a> in pink and black and a basic <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn.is.bluefly.com/mgen/Bluefly/prodImage.ms%3FproductCode%3D210408600%26width%3D340%26height%3D408&imgrefurl=http://www.bluefly.com/Rebecca-Beeson-white-thermal-long-sleeve-t-shirt/cat190142/210408600/detail.fly&">white long sleeved t-shirt</a>. can you tell that i love to layer?</div><div></div><div> </div><div>i had a gift card to forever XXI, so i stopped in there and was immediately overwhelmed with stripes and more stripes. apparently the nautical look and stripes are in this season. in keeping with this i picked up <a href="http://www.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=FOREVER21&category%5Fname=top&product%5Fid=2000010192&Page=3&pgcount=100&sort=lp">these</a> <a href="http://www.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=FOREVER21&category%5Fname=top&product%5Fid=2000003095&Page=6&pgcount=100&sort=lp">two</a> shirts with a little money left over. i was a little wary about the whole horizontal stripes thing, but they looked okay on me.<br /></div><div><div><div><div>when i got home, i hopped online and found these <a href="http://www.target.com/Adi-Designs-Microsuede-Ankle-Boots/dp/B0030F0CAK">gray booties</a>, and <a href="http://makingitlovely.com/2011/01/18/style-january-11/">this pos</a>t inspired me to try a pair of <a href="http://www.target.com/Mossimo-Black-Vonesha-Flats-Bronze/dp/B002OVIUBE/ref=sc_qi_detaillink">gold ballet flats</a>. i already had the mustard tights, but haven't worked up the nerve to pair them yet. i think it a white sweater with a tan or navy skirt and maroon accents might really work with this look.</div><br /><div></div><div>pretty much everything that i bought was your run of the mill basic piece, so i decided to walk a little on the wild side and pick up these <a href="http://www.whitehouseblackmarket.com/store/browse/product.jsp?maxRec=134&pageId=1&productId=570016163&viewAll=true&prd=Blue+SnakeEmbossed+Leather+Heel&subCatId=&color=&fromSearch=&inSeam=&posId=1&catId=cat210005&cat=Jewelry+Accessories&onSale=&colorFamily=&maxPg=1&size=">FIERCE shoes</a> with a gift card that i got for christmas. i love me a peeptoe pump. and in blue and black snakeskin embossed leather? yes please!</div><div></div><br /><div>i have to say that i instantly felt more confident about my clothing outlook after my bout of retail therapy. i have good accessories, but it's the basic pieces like shoes and pants that are the backbone of a wardrobe. plus, well fitting clothes always look better on than clothes that are too tight. </div><div></div><div> </div><div>i've got a new spring in my step and i feel like that kid that came back from summer break with a whole new wardrobe. i'm already having fun mixing and matching away.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><em>need inspiration for your new look? check out this great <a href="http://goodlifeforless.blogspot.com/">style blog</a> that i recently discovered!</em></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>naijababelovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15470486361838014099noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-20475320161221800452011-01-26T14:06:00.012-06:002011-01-26T15:04:52.934-06:00new year, old meso far, the new year is off to a decent start. babylove's first christmas was a pretty fun occasion. aside from her eating more than a few pieces of wrapping paper, i would say we had your typical fun christmas morning. actually, it was afternoon by the time we got out of bed since we were out late to a christmas eve party and church the night before.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSM89VKxV0XKb_AM7Ai_gsgsNdPfjtyy-PfQIGpvJPk3ET967bqWG9yzIkutcGGIAdiqcV8rJsZHS9gQyezPw4Ngz5vShvm0oS-4poZUrgsZrw192QHcyUIeoHUjaGXJhBorVJQ/s1600/Picture1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566598006254918658" style="WIDTH: 241px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSM89VKxV0XKb_AM7Ai_gsgsNdPfjtyy-PfQIGpvJPk3ET967bqWG9yzIkutcGGIAdiqcV8rJsZHS9gQyezPw4Ngz5vShvm0oS-4poZUrgsZrw192QHcyUIeoHUjaGXJhBorVJQ/s320/Picture1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />i really liked the way my christmas decorations came out this year. i went with muted white, gold and bronze ornaments on the tree, and quilted cream stockings with a garland and mercury glass candle holders on the mantel.<br /><br />last year i hit up a ton of after christmas sales to build up my stock for this year and it didn't disappoint. what <em>is</em> disappointing is that my camera/laptop/the internet decided to eat my pictures, so i've got nothing to show you. i've looked <strong><u>everywhere</u></strong> and can't find them. if i locate them (and if i still care by then) i'll go ahead and post them later. boo.<br /><br />i don't usually go in for the whole new year's resolution hype, but i have been in a very restless mood lately. i feel like i have finally snapped out of the whole physical and psychological shock that is bringing a new life into this world. it's like for the last 10 months, i've been in a kind of fog tending to babylove's needs and putting myself on the backburner. which is not a bad thing, but after pouring all of my love and efforts into her, i just barely had enough energy left to eat, sleep and drag myself to work everyday. but i'm back *itches!!<br /><br />i decided that the key to getting things back on track and simplifying my hectic life is to eliminate all the clutter that's been building up around the house since i had the baby. i've been sifting through all of my clothes, shoes and other household items to get rid of things that we no longer need and that are just in the way.<br /><br />i started with babylove's room, where over time i had accumulated a huge pile of all of the clothes that she has outgrown in one corner of the room. i separated the clothes into two piles "newborn baby" and "bigger baby", then folded and arranged them in size order in two plastic tubs that i stored away in her closet.<br /><br />after i finished that, i officially packed away my maternity clothes, some of which, i have to admit, that i had still been wearing close to 9 months post baby. yeah, i know. gotta do better.<br /><br />i instantly felt better about after getting these tasks out of the way. i still have a lot more to do and i've giving myself until babylove's first birthday in march to get myself together.naijababelovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15470486361838014099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-59951814641238988182010-12-23T11:18:00.006-06:002010-12-29T10:42:14.531-06:00the new guest roommy <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/09/method-to-madness.html">goal</a> for the guest room was to take a modern hotel room and give it an eclectic "world-traveler" vibe. the space also had to be comfortable for guests, but with low maintenance fabrics that could easily be thrown into the washing machine for cleaning.<br /><br />these two pictures were my inspiration:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; WIDTH: 276px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em; HEIGHT: 234px" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL56SCOiQNN5EgZimfQ2pDWXPm8Mm7aQFk5NAWFzYUj-F8TEPiucotCQ8sl-S16tRkj8YzCfLa3lR3Ulj9TQQzvyH-c1kdu9OIcO5zv5n7NTc7jE9keiGq0DY8iXBeajjgT9Mj/s1600/waldo_fernandez.png" imageanchor="1"><img height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL56SCOiQNN5EgZimfQ2pDWXPm8Mm7aQFk5NAWFzYUj-F8TEPiucotCQ8sl-S16tRkj8YzCfLa3lR3Ulj9TQQzvyH-c1kdu9OIcO5zv5n7NTc7jE9keiGq0DY8iXBeajjgT9Mj/s320/waldo_fernandez.png" width="320" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoDTaJbO-EsYsC69WWp0I4tUSSqAPJp9NsYXJX9WCokVYY11yNbNS4cHcqw3dVV3smuT6UPGYAYG4QNqa1u4nxta3XpEUPFmfS8yu-DHdq18HWP4KnDcok1NYN38Od2nONR14/s1600/cavallari_shelterpop.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoDTaJbO-EsYsC69WWp0I4tUSSqAPJp9NsYXJX9WCokVYY11yNbNS4cHcqw3dVV3smuT6UPGYAYG4QNqa1u4nxta3XpEUPFmfS8yu-DHdq18HWP4KnDcok1NYN38Od2nONR14/s320/cavallari_shelterpop.jpg" width="320" border="0" n4="true" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><em>kristin cavallari's living room (</em><a href="http://www.shelterpop.com/2010/07/07/kristin-cavallaris-new-home/"><em>shelterpop</em></a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />using those pictures, i came up with this mock up for the room:<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tCFUL5bOoE2E13JXAP-rzsmjpmSPwL4y0rFRATw6hVRJpUw0Cx79IpJAsPB1uZF2i7fcIiMFta6fteXngSne0gzT-pnvdvBVOD2z1gkgoBqozPlG6Pa89MymEnZ1i6XGUQuM/s1600/guest_room_board.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tCFUL5bOoE2E13JXAP-rzsmjpmSPwL4y0rFRATw6hVRJpUw0Cx79IpJAsPB1uZF2i7fcIiMFta6fteXngSne0gzT-pnvdvBVOD2z1gkgoBqozPlG6Pa89MymEnZ1i6XGUQuM/s400/guest_room_board.jpg" width="400" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><br /><br />here's the guest room before: <br /><br /><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuPEJQE2nqJrJePNTyzVLGhP1a7YZ0kjdtnDksftWh7PE_iAdodqwGxK1JSrE6m1Xu3czckWpzqFbSKyRzub35zpSGx4rwh-QI0GWg8vzpRYn0smVK_tx7GMmyUt6Cpi0_Bdpz/s1600/DSC03469.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuPEJQE2nqJrJePNTyzVLGhP1a7YZ0kjdtnDksftWh7PE_iAdodqwGxK1JSrE6m1Xu3czckWpzqFbSKyRzub35zpSGx4rwh-QI0GWg8vzpRYn0smVK_tx7GMmyUt6Cpi0_Bdpz/s320/DSC03469.JPG" width="320" border="0" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><em>the headboard is partially moved away from the wall because</em><br /><em>i remembered (mid move) that i needed a "before" pic.</em></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48xMROQ10GVLE3zuPRiNVV-aufLyxuwvimQ8LQOfYUZNCMiRDm3-uF1r9GVgWd6j1amh_4zIGtBBNz2A0SPB2i3ULb70PMThALo1_AkEzvK6b0wQb0WiEGec8Hz629Avg9Jj9/s1600/DSC03462.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48xMROQ10GVLE3zuPRiNVV-aufLyxuwvimQ8LQOfYUZNCMiRDm3-uF1r9GVgWd6j1amh_4zIGtBBNz2A0SPB2i3ULb70PMThALo1_AkEzvK6b0wQb0WiEGec8Hz629Avg9Jj9/s320/DSC03462.JPG" width="240" border="0" n4="true" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><em>the area between the bed and the closet</em></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div>and here is the guest room after:<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_A_7qjUO4i3Y6E83S2HjmQ8DnmiUPig-dMMtpoOPTXWaHjojQUQaiRW0o7fNSUU56aUkJoJJuwI8Lebh3RteZ9Ojujj-erq46XZSo9Bx8-3mY9Bj__UY8CuxOeMBiod6aI5XJ/s1600/DSC03665.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_A_7qjUO4i3Y6E83S2HjmQ8DnmiUPig-dMMtpoOPTXWaHjojQUQaiRW0o7fNSUU56aUkJoJJuwI8Lebh3RteZ9Ojujj-erq46XZSo9Bx8-3mY9Bj__UY8CuxOeMBiod6aI5XJ/s400/DSC03665.JPG" width="400" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div>i like that the overall effect is simple but sophisticated. i kept the original lamp, nightstand and bookcase that were in the room. i practicallly STALKED <a href="http://www.zgallerie.com/p-7286-paris-remember.aspx">the painting</a> over the bed for a few months before snapping it up for a steal at a store closing sale last fall.<br /><br />i've never been to paris, but i love the idea of the millions of anonymous lovers that have strolled past the eiffel tower over time.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SnGPAzH7q8M_S1hUYvgCKodM5wrtQYNj0uyxz-fYoW6SGspIzbtiK9pVR50lVb1VmM1Mkg6jLpZe7WmRytDKdDsR3U1FGbDn4h9i5RzUCOtBvHHSD3iGUX2_dCwcTN0_RH4l/s1600/DSC03664.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SnGPAzH7q8M_S1hUYvgCKodM5wrtQYNj0uyxz-fYoW6SGspIzbtiK9pVR50lVb1VmM1Mkg6jLpZe7WmRytDKdDsR3U1FGbDn4h9i5RzUCOtBvHHSD3iGUX2_dCwcTN0_RH4l/s400/DSC03664.JPG" width="300" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div>my <a href="http://www.shelterpop.com/2010/07/07/kristin-cavallaris-new-home/">mtv inspiration</a> for the room had a zebra-print coffee table/ottoman combo. of course, we didn't need a coffee table in the bedroom. but, i still wanted to bring in that look and a splash of color into the room with <a href="http://www.westelm.com/products/bengal-tiger-pillow-cover-r905/">this pillow cover</a>. i grouped it with a tan and chocolate lumbar pillow cover that i found on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/nenavon">etsy</a>. i looked long and hard for machine-washable throw pillows in styles that i liked before i settled on these two dry-clean-only versions. hopefully none of my lovely guests will decide to fall asleep and drool on them instead of using the bed pillows.<br /><br />yes, i'm a little uptight about my throw pillows. my rule is that they are for decoration purposes only. you can lean on them, and prop 'em up against your back to get comfortable. but if you want to take a nap i will gladly bring you a real pillow, even if you're on the living room sofa. i think it's a manifestation of my germaphobia. i used to get so bothered when my husband would knock the throw pillows from our bed onto the floor every night and then just put them back in the morning that i finally found a permanent home for them in our bedroom sitting area.<br /><br />since both of the pillow covers were a bit on the pricey side, instead of spending more money on pillow forms, i reused the square throw pillows from the original comforter set. to get them to the right sizes, i cut open one end and took out the right amount of stuffing before putting them in the new pillow covers. for the lumbar pillow, i had to cut out about half of the stuffing and then squish the rest of it into a rectangular shape.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyIE3yU1baI5yy8Jm-KtDRb_E8Ru2OatA5zo_lqOtuijJj24v5dexz6b3p_lpe7BMvhKhlIstR68BViTXCDPzEdbMO5iGeE4c6TMzUiGeSJvTvO52W3KvGVcj37lAnwTJQwEf/s1600/DSC03661.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyIE3yU1baI5yy8Jm-KtDRb_E8Ru2OatA5zo_lqOtuijJj24v5dexz6b3p_lpe7BMvhKhlIstR68BViTXCDPzEdbMO5iGeE4c6TMzUiGeSJvTvO52W3KvGVcj37lAnwTJQwEf/s320/DSC03661.JPG" width="320" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><br />a guest room wouldn't be complete without a mirror. this one is a target find that was $50 when i first saw it. i loved the classic look and i also really liked that it "mirrored" the arched windows from my inspiration picture. what i didn't love was that price.<br /><br />after a couple months of stalking i was stoked to find the mirror on clearance for 50% off. i wanted to do a happy dance right there in the aisle. instead, i took a picture. unfortunately you won't get to photographically share in that moment since i took the picture on my dearly departed <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/11/white-is-new-blackberry.html">blackberry</a>.<br /><br />here is the other side of the room. the curtain rod is from ross and the glass vase is from marshalls.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iYdi49GlHtcDC8Xwx2yTXYP3v3avcVeNeG8Nlmdo2ltWLo59ivkLgUJlYLJiW7K1nbMypWzqehVVccaKridKpNWphwgwIxgk8KSHreEAr4j_AqnmTV1UAanS2r3BY8oILi0i/s1600/DSC03806.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iYdi49GlHtcDC8Xwx2yTXYP3v3avcVeNeG8Nlmdo2ltWLo59ivkLgUJlYLJiW7K1nbMypWzqehVVccaKridKpNWphwgwIxgk8KSHreEAr4j_AqnmTV1UAanS2r3BY8oILi0i/s320/DSC03806.JPG" width="242" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><br />here is a close up of the curtains. the curtains and headboard are ikea hacks that i talk about in more detail in <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/12/guest-room-preview.html">this</a> post.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZkqjbw9PHtlC4ydO2QkFzk7o2ZbunizUDDTnVtriBImoApmpocWLtSb06P9AsGw23k6sbjbX_SCFofs3KEsKJ-3_wy2sPahwvKPxDl9wSdP-GxQA1qkogFofnK8DnmboHmoO/s1600/DSC03667.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZkqjbw9PHtlC4ydO2QkFzk7o2ZbunizUDDTnVtriBImoApmpocWLtSb06P9AsGw23k6sbjbX_SCFofs3KEsKJ-3_wy2sPahwvKPxDl9wSdP-GxQA1qkogFofnK8DnmboHmoO/s320/DSC03667.JPG" width="320" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div>every guest needs a spot to hang up their jacket/purse. so, i installed a cheap little hook from hobby lobby underneath some artwork that i picked up on clearance at a <a href="http://www.happyclotheshouston.com/index.html">local boutique</a> that was closing one of its locations.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmN6m7s3OWMR8-N7soRg7qnBajvg8h2aDEaQ2f-fxFpqEfCSfYmpo6yt68nbHevSxeEHDfUFgn2_bZ6XEBI_Sia1aXGY4oYBXXVhXgBGrc2GCCDG9o3Bb0SplO3vK3FHw1zEH/s1600/DSC03807.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmN6m7s3OWMR8-N7soRg7qnBajvg8h2aDEaQ2f-fxFpqEfCSfYmpo6yt68nbHevSxeEHDfUFgn2_bZ6XEBI_Sia1aXGY4oYBXXVhXgBGrc2GCCDG9o3Bb0SplO3vK3FHw1zEH/s320/DSC03807.JPG" width="240" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><br />it took a while to pull together, but i'm really happy with the end result. if you're ever in houston, stop on by for a visit. everything will be freshly laundered and ready for you.<br /><br />have you ever stayed at a hotel whose decor you wanted to bring home? and am i the only one who is germaphobic when it comes to throw pillows? don't even get me started on hotel linens...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-88894646434755617532010-12-11T18:39:00.003-06:002010-12-13T15:28:13.156-06:00guest room previewin the effort to get the house all spiffy and nice for <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/12/thanks-for-memories.html">thanksgiving</a> company, i made a final push to finish up on a project that i first started waaaay back during <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/09/labor-days.html">labor day weekend</a>.<br />
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i finally finished the <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/09/method-to-madness.html">guest room</a>! in my defense, i've actually been in the home stretch of this project for a while now. but with an 8 1/2 month old babylove, even the smallest of tasks is hard to tackle after an 8 hour workday and then getting home and feeding, changing and bathing her. i get exhausted just thinking about it.<br />
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here's the before shot:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWFtaovPcuQYDtwUoGyp8Rn-a-C3KOLBSIvJcT038SyaojXIDsK9RHfi5fXz9AFFdH8f2YVf313246MmlXnr2am9ItQa-XySic0Zn8f3pEifUYCt-T4iRE8a-0oR8crUB0gjh/s1600/DSC03468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWFtaovPcuQYDtwUoGyp8Rn-a-C3KOLBSIvJcT038SyaojXIDsK9RHfi5fXz9AFFdH8f2YVf313246MmlXnr2am9ItQa-XySic0Zn8f3pEifUYCt-T4iRE8a-0oR8crUB0gjh/s320/DSC03468.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>yes, i could have straightened up</i> <i>first...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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and here's a little sneak peek at some of the work that went into the room:<br />
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the guest room was the only bedroom in the house that didn't have any kind of window treatment. i knew that i wanted some classy looking curtains in the room, but i didn't want to spend a ton of money on them. so, i created custom trimmed curtains with the help of some inexpensive <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10083542#">ikea curtain panels</a> and the following items.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWExwYd_Jtfn5Ct3AlhKUpeINUgr6mde8OZnDJbcFEoss4Sc1fuvaYO-Cl0kBdDBjSmy09BniMOdPGe2tFhkon_bXvlGtXo-3OpkOQWFcYJP1BofTBnxWVetIeiOkETqoquZHF/s1600/DSC03670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWExwYd_Jtfn5Ct3AlhKUpeINUgr6mde8OZnDJbcFEoss4Sc1fuvaYO-Cl0kBdDBjSmy09BniMOdPGe2tFhkon_bXvlGtXo-3OpkOQWFcYJP1BofTBnxWVetIeiOkETqoquZHF/s320/DSC03670.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>iron on hem tape and patterned ribbon</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma-fwhJWliJ1GpZbInwXkgh8dRW8VwqsLnKey_F0b9g_Tq94w3a8wqQiVE8MQzPiArhX2InWl6jL5J_V3k7_a04AM2Z0FUa_mF0coHCXfKbJnAHnvKkdaaswsCSD5sFAqQnsn/s1600/DSC03471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma-fwhJWliJ1GpZbInwXkgh8dRW8VwqsLnKey_F0b9g_Tq94w3a8wqQiVE8MQzPiArhX2InWl6jL5J_V3k7_a04AM2Z0FUa_mF0coHCXfKbJnAHnvKkdaaswsCSD5sFAqQnsn/s320/DSC03471.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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the original headboard in the room is a pier 1 purchase that has been with me for a few years. i bought the matching nightstand, side table and bookshelf with it as well. the set was originally in the master bedroom before we moved it over to the guest room after we bought a new bedframe. i still really love the original headboard, and hope to use it again in the future, but it didn't quite fit with my image of this room, which was of a modern, eclectic hotel.<br />
<br />
so, we stashed it under the bed and i got to work creating a new headboard that i saw on <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/08/carries-second-design-dilemma-solved/">my favorite home diy blog</a>. i have to admit, i was a little leery taking on this project. i have notoriously bad luck when it comes to putting things together, but i decided to give it a try anyway.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3IWbqX7NhiDJttyRVjTYVjZ_zYyewt_Jgh9r1OizjPb4lx2Fm98e52C23datokfKyYD33M1M2K6LRcn844ATXekjBhwFBQgCG7NRiPb0g_MU-UzMqo07B4QYfvBacQktXBTZ/s1600/DSC03464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3IWbqX7NhiDJttyRVjTYVjZ_zYyewt_Jgh9r1OizjPb4lx2Fm98e52C23datokfKyYD33M1M2K6LRcn844ATXekjBhwFBQgCG7NRiPb0g_MU-UzMqo07B4QYfvBacQktXBTZ/s320/DSC03464.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YCCqUH80pMcLu-yd8QJTuDBGXfCA6aL9iLlO7bST0by8Xq7LUkdmhVnChMfm6FevIIY7ibkzCNrVOagJJPdcUpcBx59RPCz3X5WcB8ybuf8g7JJwKEZQLBDwQTAI_Q-Y6xXT/s1600/DSC03465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YCCqUH80pMcLu-yd8QJTuDBGXfCA6aL9iLlO7bST0by8Xq7LUkdmhVnChMfm6FevIIY7ibkzCNrVOagJJPdcUpcBx59RPCz3X5WcB8ybuf8g7JJwKEZQLBDwQTAI_Q-Y6xXT/s320/DSC03465.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFPlFnq3pcF0-ljQtk7VkG9apKpHwBm2Mr9vgP0pAVRwhFjCVH4RlfzX5olectT2aVnOy6WeowsuuLIY9tuKDGVTnItNAbup8GtpL6DBi07p0gBbf9DGm1i7VB5u-LoAcyafG/s1600/DSC03466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFPlFnq3pcF0-ljQtk7VkG9apKpHwBm2Mr9vgP0pAVRwhFjCVH4RlfzX5olectT2aVnOy6WeowsuuLIY9tuKDGVTnItNAbup8GtpL6DBi07p0gBbf9DGm1i7VB5u-LoAcyafG/s320/DSC03466.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>stabilizing board</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCw6gO8SMCpkLzKy1TPCSJB3Lg6jhy3yZbcGj9Z-3KlXspkuo8LZrLXH4H-sNvZIymuB5VEV2O5PJaxqI76YPU43lyyWAGvBwQMiujnBL99aCMo9A-cgjsNCOE5a3fNZHVQFPb/s1600/DSC03467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCw6gO8SMCpkLzKy1TPCSJB3Lg6jhy3yZbcGj9Z-3KlXspkuo8LZrLXH4H-sNvZIymuB5VEV2O5PJaxqI76YPU43lyyWAGvBwQMiujnBL99aCMo9A-cgjsNCOE5a3fNZHVQFPb/s320/DSC03467.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>i'm guessing that the <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/about-2/">youngster's</a> version doesn't make like a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s53WHi8e5M">504 boyz song</a> anytime you touch it, but with it pushed up against the wall and held in place by the bed, hopefully no one will notice that little detail {<i>fingers crossed</i>}.<br />
<br />
can't wait for y'all to see the finished room!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQMPT5MvJ-3Zq9kBTsByt5XKDquDsFXyG5aJSz8XiA7PWxxVDXZze8LPqeB-z-qeIStwp9BTObIEy9MegA-d64K-DffLAeKfaMd4FifseJ-65fJ0LbMG7qBh7zqAM4P6rtM1Q/s1600/DSC03660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQMPT5MvJ-3Zq9kBTsByt5XKDquDsFXyG5aJSz8XiA7PWxxVDXZze8LPqeB-z-qeIStwp9BTObIEy9MegA-d64K-DffLAeKfaMd4FifseJ-65fJ0LbMG7qBh7zqAM4P6rtM1Q/s320/DSC03660.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>love this cool doorhanger that was "borrowed" from a local boutique hotel</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-77626356452680663232010-12-07T21:31:00.007-06:002010-12-29T10:47:04.770-06:00everyone loves: christmas photo cardsi've always been the type of person to send out christmas cards to friends and family. back in the day, if you picked up a pack of cards from the store, addressed them and mailed them out, you were good. to quote a talented <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Things-Game-Done-Changed-Hollister/dp/B00006IQLR">singer</a>: things in the game done changed.<br /><br />once folks in my peer group started reproducing, they started getting a little creative. with social media, we're used to hearing about little johnny and madison's every move. but back in the day the only way i could get an update on the lives of my extended circle of friends was via those cute little photo christmas cards. some had pictures of the entire family, while others had just the kids, some cards even included status reports of everything that each member of the family had done since last year's christmas card.<br /><br />as dorky as it might seem, i have to admit that once i got pregnant, i, too, started looking forward to years of sending out our very own christmas photo cards after babylove's arrival. i mean, let's face it, it's just not as fun to get a picture card with two adults that you know staring back at you.<br /><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTlRkQCZ0ZpadTdOQRj2CixGVEFxYStET49CPfc6S_Oy02aby-cjLTHpNd8qCS32lrHzHoBw444zWbmYy8eWTaC703Z6HtizvE-dstTWCtlPQOg8C_Etc8xwG-RNafBzmGRRy/s1600/STATIONERYCARD_FOLDED_5x7-27137-2645-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v128207191800099353.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTlRkQCZ0ZpadTdOQRj2CixGVEFxYStET49CPfc6S_Oy02aby-cjLTHpNd8qCS32lrHzHoBw444zWbmYy8eWTaC703Z6HtizvE-dstTWCtlPQOg8C_Etc8xwG-RNafBzmGRRy/s320/STATIONERYCARD_FOLDED_5x7-27137-2645-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v128207191800099353.jpg" width="231" border="0" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><i>mmmmm.....not so much</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />luckily, the internet makes it super easy to create professional quality cards at home. my preferred photo website is <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/">shutterfly</a>. in addition to being able to upload and print pictures from their site, they also have a bunch of cool products like <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/announcements/graduation-announcements">graduation announcements</a>, <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars">calendars</a>, and of course, <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery">holiday photo cards</a>.<br /><br />in the past, i've used shutterfly for everything from making memorable wedding thank you cards (similar to this one except in the limo after the wedding ceremony and not as cheesy). three years later, some of my friends still have our thank you cards on display. <br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto; TEXT-ALIGN: center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3E5HBDjbDIDPzxxyzq-R8WJbk0RSCTnzv80qchOpIgc7bt4afKEaNyLooaAD_oB61dQDcWXWEHMRL17Sj-l34F2b96byIEwn9jzYqzjrxJRWw3gXgNCFfyjR2e5jeDJUSegS3/s320/wedding_thank_yous.jpg" width="320" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><i>photo courtesy of www.ivylain.com</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div>i also used shutterfly to make <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books">photo books</a> for both of sets of grandparents with my maternity pictures and babylove's newborn photo shoot in it.<br /><br />my favorite shutterfly feature is the <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/sites/create/welcome.sfly?fid=ef570ef1836e96ee">photo share sites</a>. i used it to create an online photo album for babylove that i update every month and share with friends and family. unlike certain websites (that shall remain nameless), you can password protect your entire photo album website and also set privacy levels within the albums so that only those that you give permission to can save or download the posted pictures. perfect for a private person like me.<br /><br />okay, back to the christmas cards: there are so many cool designs to choose from that it was almost hard to choose. i really liked the cards with multiple images of the family members in various states of holiday happiness.<br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYzdHQf4QxGpJPHf8JMfWOGnQ1JLCWGSIvOLI5XH1W9r-bx7u-pnfxNoy8NnIaE6bFbGXjz9sAda_qf5A0CU7Vbr3HNvbwKj8KMzErHHrCnsBkswhM_gwY_lylqN-McGfquVf/s1600/STATIONERYCARD_FOLDED_5x7-27137-2778-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v128096271200092612.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYzdHQf4QxGpJPHf8JMfWOGnQ1JLCWGSIvOLI5XH1W9r-bx7u-pnfxNoy8NnIaE6bFbGXjz9sAda_qf5A0CU7Vbr3HNvbwKj8KMzErHHrCnsBkswhM_gwY_lylqN-McGfquVf/s320/STATIONERYCARD_FOLDED_5x7-27137-2778-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v128096271200092612.jpg" width="320" border="0" /></a></div>however,a busy husband and baby + photoshoot would require a bit more of an effort than i can muster right now.<br /><br />i liked this one as well, although for christmas i would probably like something a little more formal.<br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuc769zx8MUPyjM3XsyV0DazjInCqiMmkHmrfQSF9kQTe3c56AAm1a3QG3CZnW1_r9Zm2sg7p4NocSa2nE5-mJzr-lLtI8G5DlaLnlYpt4ece_INeoMeboNFmGeihBX3EC-ojU/s1600/STATIONERYCARD_5x5-31046-2647-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v1281031079000154101.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuc769zx8MUPyjM3XsyV0DazjInCqiMmkHmrfQSF9kQTe3c56AAm1a3QG3CZnW1_r9Zm2sg7p4NocSa2nE5-mJzr-lLtI8G5DlaLnlYpt4ece_INeoMeboNFmGeihBX3EC-ojU/s320/STATIONERYCARD_5x5-31046-2647-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v1281031079000154101.jpg" width="320" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br />the previous two examples are actual folding cards. but in the end, i ended up choosing <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/perfect-paisley-christmas-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93476">this flat card</a> since i tend to draw a blank when it comes to filling up the inside of a card with sweet, flowery nothings. i also really love the paisley design and the classic red and green coloring.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8QyBY-m08EW46sILLKH-E2d0wfvq4Y9qSsLGmsuFIz_wVj_die0y3JMdzpVLiPkkFX0ODywxRlW1DSnAyLaTZl5aalGbL05rafZV4pMnpe8F1zIrPirNCpP0GEa0odNohet-/s1600/STATIONERYCARD_5x5-31046-2801-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v1281031456000141753.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8QyBY-m08EW46sILLKH-E2d0wfvq4Y9qSsLGmsuFIz_wVj_die0y3JMdzpVLiPkkFX0ODywxRlW1DSnAyLaTZl5aalGbL05rafZV4pMnpe8F1zIrPirNCpP0GEa0odNohet-/s400/STATIONERYCARD_5x5-31046-2801-MERCHLARGE_FRONT-v1281031456000141753.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br />with that out of the way, now all i need is to snag somebody to take our picture in front of a christmas tree, which i plan to do this week. if i can get the cards in the mail by early next week, that will still leave a couple of weeks for people to enjoy them before christmas.<br /><br /><i>want to score free holiday photo cards of your very own? click <a href="http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/">here</a> to find out how.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-73657375914335113212010-12-02T22:50:00.004-06:002010-12-13T15:27:01.021-06:00thanks for the memories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8iaVgahZoO7BXa5QYpQFFaxfhQDsRfi6ALEtOILSqxtv2EqLKZsx2gDfAIey9hgszfTxYaxOAchbPc5pXk7ehAfgs9cyq4HcOT1sGV2KdT9LoxCjKFvdpfVozvjP15iyMDTU/s1600/DSC03656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.weirdworm.com/weird-thanksgiving-day-facts/"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mghrB2g8_3ppVuQwRSix2zGAX3_ZeND_52niH53psaLQyp85KkLu6bVLPOe4c756lrGHcaTv-obJGZAOKkuHuQ2PfqoV5mCIRhLXSRZl5HKajASkKzrU5ehPV82wn53j87YH/s320/thanksgiving.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><br />
<br />
thanksgiving has come and gone and it was a whirlwind of activity. we hosted both sides of the family at our house for the first time. i love the fun-ness of having people over and hanging out. but as my dear, sweet husband recently pointed out, i also have the type of <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/09/type.html">personality</a> that gets me all into a cranky frenzy when preparing to have people over.<br />
<br />
i decided that the best way to keep myself from going over the edge was to take a logical approach and prepare for everything ahead of time. armed with my menu and grocery list (all stored in my <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/11/white-is-new-blackberry.html">whiteberry</a>) i hit wal-mart on the sunday before thanksgiving. i picked up all of the food items that i would need and also got a much needed oil change. gotta love multi-tasking at wally world.<br />
<br />
at this point, i was feeling ahead and the game and like i had a handle on things. until tuesday night, when our air conditioner decided to stop working. normally this shouldn't be a problem in late november, except that i live in houston, tx, home of the <strike>purple sprite</strike> crazy weather. supposedly a cold front was going to hit by turkey day, but all i could picture was 15 of our relatives sweating to death in our hot ass house and the holiday being ruined for everybody. i had taken the wednesday before thanksgiving off from work, so after a frantic call to our <a href="http://homewarranty.ahs.com/?mp=Google&ovchn=GGL&ovcpn=Home+Shield+Brand&ovcrn=sr3_165965874_go+american+home+shield&ovtac=PPC&SR=sr3_165965874_go&gclid=CNCBsqKQz6UCFQ7t7QodGAKQkg">home warranty service</a> and a few fervent (shouts out to DP) prayers, i had an appointment to have someone out to the house that afternoon.<br />
<br />
wednesday morning i dropped babylove off at daycare and went by my neighborhood <a href="http://www.heb.com/home/home.jsp">heb</a> to pick up all the drinks for thanksgiving. i was planning to make some sangria to go along with the usual sodas and waters. even though i'm grown with a child of my own, i always feel like my mother is silently counting my glasses whenever i drink "adult beverages" around her. with sangria, at least i could disguise it with a bunch of fruit and stick it in a nice little pitcher.<br />
<br />
i also needed to buy one of heb's cajun seasoned turkeys, which ended up coming with a bunch of assorted items as part of the <a href="http://frugalreality.com/2010/08/10/how-to-shop-a-combo-loco-heb/">combo loco</a>. usually, i love combo locos because not only is it fun to say "combo loco", but, <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/10/everyone-loves-free-make-up.html">everyone loves free ish</a>. however, i REALLY hate when the items are not all grouped together in the same spot. here i was on a Mission to get in, grab my turkey and drinks and get out, but there was no way that i was leaving free items on the table, even if the free items were an foil pan, some salad dressing, iceberg lettuce salad, store brand sodas and ice cream, frozen asparagus tips and some store brand stuffing.<br />
<br />
so, after schlepping all over the store for my items, i was back home by noon and ready to start cooking. i had baked the cornbread for the dressing and boiled sweet potatoes for the casserole just as the a/c guy showed up.<br />
<br />
when i tell you this guy had me SO worried that thanksgiving was gonna be a bust! he just seemed generally out of it and unsure of himself and was puttering around for like 2 hours before he finally found the problems. besides the freon not circulating properly, apparently some duct work blew out in the attic, so we basically had a stream of nicely chilled air blowing out through this giant hole and disappearing into our hot ass attic. lovely.<br />
<br />
a/c guy wasn't authorized to repair duct work, but he <i>was</i> nice enough to rig up a covering for the hole with a bunch of trash bags and some duct tape. very <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088559/">macgyver</a>-like indeed. needless to say, this was a bit nerve-wracking being so close to quitting time on the last business day before a national holiday.<br />
<br />
while he was working, i cut up the fruit and combined all the ingredients for the sangria. apparently it needs to <strike>marinate</strike> chill overnight for all of the flavors to be at their best. once the a/c guy left, i decided to run by hobby lobby to whip up my DIY table runner. i had drawn inspiration from a <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/11/our-thanksgiving-table-setting/">couple</a> of <a href="http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2010/11/pier-1-holiday-tablesettings/">blogs</a> that i frequent, so i was feeling very creative. i had already used metallic spray paint on some gourd vegetables and a couple of leftover halloween pumpkins to use as a centerpiece, so i found this cute gold and black fabric to match that theme.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8iaVgahZoO7BXa5QYpQFFaxfhQDsRfi6ALEtOILSqxtv2EqLKZsx2gDfAIey9hgszfTxYaxOAchbPc5pXk7ehAfgs9cyq4HcOT1sGV2KdT9LoxCjKFvdpfVozvjP15iyMDTU/s1600/DSC03656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8iaVgahZoO7BXa5QYpQFFaxfhQDsRfi6ALEtOILSqxtv2EqLKZsx2gDfAIey9hgszfTxYaxOAchbPc5pXk7ehAfgs9cyq4HcOT1sGV2KdT9LoxCjKFvdpfVozvjP15iyMDTU/s320/DSC03656.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>veggies</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjublA42Aed-JtC2-d7y5mjGLSmnj_vDIc1zbewacWAcJixKMMvq7e43DwD4ov0c1Kb1AG7Iodvptrc3Gjnsqu4eA1HCPPda81iekVgsZRe8RqhaDUPlHfho7OXneCFC4XNjsNa/s1600/DSC03657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjublA42Aed-JtC2-d7y5mjGLSmnj_vDIc1zbewacWAcJixKMMvq7e43DwD4ov0c1Kb1AG7Iodvptrc3Gjnsqu4eA1HCPPda81iekVgsZRe8RqhaDUPlHfho7OXneCFC4XNjsNa/s320/DSC03657.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>plus spray paint</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21rkuLB8Fd5yr2o8xSBgz1ph94WwWZ_h057ZSxcidvS6qpvh_ijpUDwUTUHAPI8CVkwogVmyavUMb35BOhlm_Zbk-iejjmG5yHjHfu40N97z0ywQwD_LUZtVTvrCKzZzq5ekW/s1600/DSC03686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21rkuLB8Fd5yr2o8xSBgz1ph94WwWZ_h057ZSxcidvS6qpvh_ijpUDwUTUHAPI8CVkwogVmyavUMb35BOhlm_Zbk-iejjmG5yHjHfu40N97z0ywQwD_LUZtVTvrCKzZzq5ekW/s320/DSC03686.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>equals fabulous. eat your heart out BHG!</i></td></tr>
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late in the afternoon, i was starting to second guess myself about the amount of food that i had bought. i'm used to cooking for two, but more than that-not so much. after some <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2007/11/first-thanksgiving-problem-how-much-turkey-do.html">googling</a>, i ended up making another run to heb for a second, smaller turkey (which was, of course, followed by me hunting down all of my free combo loco items).<br />
<br />
i got back home with all my loot and then decided that i needed to make more sweet potato casserole. at this point, my feet were hurting from standing all day. with my well-orchestrated shopping plan in ruins, i didn't have the heart to go back to heb where the cashiers could probably recognize me on sight, so i slunk over to <a href="http://www.fiestamart.com/">fiesta</a> instead.<br />
<br />
by wednesday night, things were back on track and i made plans to start the final food prep the next morning.<br />
<br />
the thursday morning cooking was pretty uneventful. i <i>did</i> have one last minute snafu and, yes, ANOTHER trip to heb after i discovered that the foil pans that i had baked the side dishes in were a little too big to fit into the base of my chafer set. picture me 5 minutes before the store closed with my huge foil pan from home in one hand in the aisle literally testing out the smaller ones to make sure that they would fit. not a pretty sight. once i got home, i then had to transfer four pans of food into the new ones, which i was still doing when guests started to arrive.<br />
<br />
check out the spread:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_cw2eonb1zfaRLJmQDpg6wp_OFbYr-nONuyBEkJIDIwOujJwjSyy22vsclffs_6EPmq_-6maneqk0AxhKk9dBcUfnhSt6H2wD9aEJoyThLFhqWhWD7MkKRfntGUrsdGJroJTp/s1600/DSC03692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_cw2eonb1zfaRLJmQDpg6wp_OFbYr-nONuyBEkJIDIwOujJwjSyy22vsclffs_6EPmq_-6maneqk0AxhKk9dBcUfnhSt6H2wD9aEJoyThLFhqWhWD7MkKRfntGUrsdGJroJTp/s320/DSC03692.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>front entryway</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmApmQGVv6Doxy3xa7MCc3fX7GGTbB5hJkRB1L9hVm5E-TpKiPsgoBJm-qV0mpwjn_oK6UE5DyUOwD-LDZMIzVDCd_ty03X-yZpIeQC60cg0r64KeCC3By1K2YVsqCN4V1ZMH/s1600/DSC03693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmApmQGVv6Doxy3xa7MCc3fX7GGTbB5hJkRB1L9hVm5E-TpKiPsgoBJm-qV0mpwjn_oK6UE5DyUOwD-LDZMIzVDCd_ty03X-yZpIeQC60cg0r64KeCC3By1K2YVsqCN4V1ZMH/s320/DSC03693.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>for the non-turkey eaters</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWo6MXEDwKSkaC8FGB44T3ypTTVO1Ceh8b4bMqKPjJeFSuyUD8Uv1b8-CB_td6gZ0VB5NQ7ByOrjiu1mqeTm6ElDOcTwOmdDShAIAc-YpE0_L1QwQ9OegX8wc2YQ9N6_Ua4Aj/s1600/DSC03679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWo6MXEDwKSkaC8FGB44T3ypTTVO1Ceh8b4bMqKPjJeFSuyUD8Uv1b8-CB_td6gZ0VB5NQ7ByOrjiu1mqeTm6ElDOcTwOmdDShAIAc-YpE0_L1QwQ9OegX8wc2YQ9N6_Ua4Aj/s320/DSC03679.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>winner for best repurpose of free loco salad goes to...</i></td></tr>
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i forgot to take a pic of the sangria, but trust me, it was good! i really had a great time getting my black martha stewart on and spending time with family. and after 3 years of marriage, a bunch of previously unused wedding presents (like our margarita pitcher set, fine china and silverware) all saw the light of day.<br />
<br />
hope y'all had a good one!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-36651452482878569612010-11-16T09:01:00.000-06:002010-11-16T09:01:22.708-06:00white is the new blackberry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFSy1783xeLNrOiIxIVKHtd7jM5W652tl3_aS8vUtgquv3ggNXVz-sL1t6r0p9Fsx-AvUukilwnG_bXK-5dhQvdlxc4OIM2qpDX5GKab5NBG4N4fBwGdZZjV5RSqk8pYLcu9B/s1600/whiteberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFSy1783xeLNrOiIxIVKHtd7jM5W652tl3_aS8vUtgquv3ggNXVz-sL1t6r0p9Fsx-AvUukilwnG_bXK-5dhQvdlxc4OIM2qpDX5GKab5NBG4N4fBwGdZZjV5RSqk8pYLcu9B/s320/whiteberry.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br />
a few weeks ago, some {<em>in clueless valley girl voice</em>} LOSER, stole my <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pcmag-mideast.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/new-blackberry-bold-9700.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pcmag-mideast.com/2010/02/02/blackberry-bold-9700-review/&usg=__I30c2tJdqarZ1PDF9jalzFGpjPs=&h=600&w=600&sz=45&hl=en&start=4&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=5oMVp0IfDUu9cM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblackberry%2Bbold%2B9700%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26tbs%3Disch:1">blackberry</a>. i actually have to take partial responsibility since i made it easy by being absent-minded and leaving it in public. i had only had the phone for about 6 months and didn't have insurance on it, so i was out of luck on having t-mobile give me another one for less than $500. i was really hoping that the goodness in people coupled with the adorable screensaver of my husband and babylove would lead to its safe return. <br />
<br />
yeah, no such luck. <br />
<br />
before i lost my phone, i was totally one of those people that you see glued to the phone at every free moment. although it's never gotten quite <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHlN21ebeak">this</a> bad, i've definitely had a few close calls while walking. <br />
<br />
at first, i thought that not having my phone would be unbearable. no spontaneous checking of e-mails or facebook or checking in with friends. but, for a few days, it actually was pretty nice to have an excuse to be unplugged from the world for a while. <br />
<br />
about a week into my involuntary blackberry vacation, i got to try out the hubby's iphone, which led to the realization that i hate touch screen phones. at that time, my phone service was still on, so i could check my messages remotely and call people back if necessary.<br />
<br />
the only times that i actually missed the blackberry were when i needed to google <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-US&q=how+are+rhobh%27s+kyle+richards+and+paris+hilton+related%3F&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=m1&aql=f&oq=&gs_rfai=">something</a> right quick or when i wanted to "watch" a tv or sporting event with all of my facebook friends and giggle at their crazy comments. <br />
<br />
about 3 weeks after the phone disappeared, i finally decided to give up the ghost and order a new one. after scouring the interwebs, i decided that ebay would be my best option. being the impatient person that i am, i decided to pick the "buy now" option. i was able to get a new (to me) blackberry in pretty good condition from one of the <a href="http://stores.ebay.com/Jectronics/Jectronics-Policy-Page.html">sellers</a> for <strike>a week and a half of babylove's daycare tuition</strike> $320 with free shipping. since i had the chance, i wanted to change it up so that i could maybe trick myself into thinking that the new phone was my idea. i looked at other types of phones, but i'm pretty addicted to my crackberry, so i decided to get the same phone, but in white.<br />
<br />
luckily, i had backed up all of the files on my old phone, including hospital pictures of my babylove from when she was born, and i wanted to make sure that i could just swap everything onto the new phone with a minimum of <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wahala">wahala</a>. i was able to escape phone number exchange hell since t-mobile has this niftly little <a href="http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm23951.xml#8">automatic backup feature</a> that came with our plan.<br />
<br />
after the requisite scrubdown with clorox wipes (who knows where this phone came from / has been), i'm back in business and loving my new "whiteberry".<br />
<br />
although i did miss a possible interview (grrr) by not responding quickly enough when the recruiter called, there were some positive things that came out of losing my phone.<br />
<br />
i used to get a bunch of newsletters coming to the phone from various websites including about 5 baby-themed websites. while i do like the convenience of reading up on babyloves weekly milestones, i realized that <a href="http://www.babycenter.com/topic-DWIL.htm">one of them</a>, while pretty funny at times, was also a bit of a downer and was also one of the first things that i was reading each morning. what a way to start the day with a dose of negativity without even realizing it! needless to say, i unsubscribed to that mailing list.<br />
<br />
i've also been able to scale back some of my addictive phone checking/texting. i lost all of the hundred or so e-mails that had stacked up on the phone, and it was such a relief! i've started being really vigilant about deleting e-mails once i am finished with them instead of letting them pile up on me. now i usually keep about 12-15 e-mails on the phone that i am following up on and i delete anything that's over one week old. <br />
<br />
all's well that ends well, but i would have rather skipped the whole experience. and i have one last message for whoever has my old phone:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_o5c4_ca0xz8cdvNSf-vJZ6zcCBkN4FiJ92F0RKNOjv02U1QIkBZDanDMdpVNKzQUsUzaE4oZt9Nhgmk-fYYwtIBPRoqJlnr2shuB-vIx5hIO1e4-0LLk4h3nCfwfRWQE1QY8/s1600/loser.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_o5c4_ca0xz8cdvNSf-vJZ6zcCBkN4FiJ92F0RKNOjv02U1QIkBZDanDMdpVNKzQUsUzaE4oZt9Nhgmk-fYYwtIBPRoqJlnr2shuB-vIx5hIO1e4-0LLk4h3nCfwfRWQE1QY8/s200/loser.bmp" width="200" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-15302651551598235222010-10-25T07:08:00.005-05:002010-11-02T15:59:22.962-05:00the good wife<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVnGu8Bs_ftAvBkyksuOTUcHXK-32JHFhn3ll_LXP1FAlakXe5u3atJCxcrZw_MTgwPWtDEHxcCbGals9MKzwsLvfTYXe-_D2ZQoWVDguWuYpGJUrNj7s2Wx4gEjGxsDiDpiB/s1600/cbr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVnGu8Bs_ftAvBkyksuOTUcHXK-32JHFhn3ll_LXP1FAlakXe5u3atJCxcrZw_MTgwPWtDEHxcCbGals9MKzwsLvfTYXe-_D2ZQoWVDguWuYpGJUrNj7s2Wx4gEjGxsDiDpiB/s320/cbr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
a couple of months ago, my husband and i went to see corinne bailey rae at the house of blues downtown. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corinne-Bailey-Rae/dp/B000HBK3MM">her first cd</a> was part of the soundtrack to our dating relationship, and we came <i>thisclose</i> to seeing her in concert in new orleans the weekend that we got engaged in 2007. <br />
i was looking forward to her next album and tour cycle. but, unfortunately, tragedy struck when corinne's husband <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1583933/20080324/bailey_rae_corinne.jhtml">died in march 2008</a>. i remember how shocked i was when i heard about it. i had only been married about 5 months, and at that time, losing my husband was probably the worst thing that i could imagine happening to me. i say that because now losing my daughter would definitely be #1.<br />
<br />
i felt a real sense of sadness that corinne was so young and had lost her first love and partner of 7 years. i googled for months afterwards trying to find stories in the british media about how she was doing and if she would recover. i figured that she might never make music again, and that if she did it would be too sad to listen to.<br />
<br />
so i was excited to hear that she was back with a new album. but, in all of her tv appearances supporting the album, the topic of her husband's death never came up. i was stoked to see her in concert and a little curious to see first-hand how she had overcome the grief and come back to her music.<br />
<br />
we had just gotten back to houston a few hours earlier after going to my friend's <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/08/hill-country-wedding.html">wedding</a> but i was determined to make it to the concert. we left babylove with my mother-in-law and set out for the house of blues. the <a href="http://rainbowlens.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/corinne-bailey-rae-concert-house-of-blues-houston/">concert</a> was awesome, of course. she sang a lot of her older songs as well as songs from the new cd. i haven't quite gotten into her new sound, but i'm sure it will grow on me.<br />
<br />
i don't know if i expected to see her break down during some of the songs or what, exactly, i was looking for. she did have a ring of some sort on her ring finger, but from the outside, she seemed to be holding up okay. i can only imagine that with the highs of touring and performing, that there must be some terrible lows mixed in. i was reading the <a href="http://crashcoursewidow.blogspot.com/">crash course widow's blog</a> today. she also became a young widow after her husband died unexpectedly 5 years ago and her blog deals with her grieving process and how she tries to teach her young daughter about the father she can't remember.<br />
<br />
i'm not overly obsessed with this subject, but it <em>is</em> something that i think about on occassion. a few years ago, i read this really touching <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Widows-Walk-Memoir-11/dp/0743246241">book</a> written by a lady whose firefighter husband died on 9/11, which was also their anniversary. her descriptions of the emotions that followed were so deep. <br />
<br />
my first "real" job after college was in a clinic where we treated patients with bladder, prostate, testicular and kidney cancer. there were a few patients close to my age, which was totally sad. but the images that stick in my mind eight years later are of the wives of the men with cancer.<br />
<br />
these women would schedule appointments for their sick husbands and they would sit stoically in the exam rooms and listen as the doctor dropped bombs in the middle of their universe. it reminded me of this painting from grant hill and tamia's african-american art collection that we saw at an exhibit at texas southern university when we were dating (i wanted to post the drawing but i couldn't find it on the net). on one side, it showed a couple on their wedding day, and on the other side, it showed the man's lynched body hanging from a tree.<br />
<br />
like the woman in the painting, the cancer wives never could have known on their wedding days just how tragically their marriages would end. these women would literally shoulder the burden of their husbands, weak from chemotherapy and disease, who needed someone to help them walk into the waiting room. as the cancer grew worse and their husbands got sicker, these women would push wheelchairs, and prop pillows, and smooth the hair of their men all the while waiting patiently to see the doctor for more bad news. <br />
<br />
there were days when i would watch with a lump in my throat and just pray to God that a) i would never have to experience anything like this, and b) that if i did, that i could be a good wife to my future husband like these women were to theirs. <br />
<br />
before we were married, my husband made it clear that part of the reason that he chose me was that he knew that i was capable of taking care of our future kids should anything happen to him. so i also prayed that afterwards i would have the strength to take care of my kids and myself.<br />
<br />
this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgaoNZ3Hg0I">song</a> by india.arie has always moved me, and sums it up well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-25877540348881017092010-10-23T18:14:00.004-05:002010-11-09T09:51:47.748-06:00everyone loves: free make-up<span style="font-size: x-small;">i was planning on writing this post last week, but got sidetracked by <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/10/everyone-loves-chilean-miners.html">current events</a>. now back to our regularly scheduled program.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/154/4280/Custom-Palette-Eye-Shadow-x-15/index.tmpl"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-U8xw6C0B5hU0i6aEmViBNB4spV8w5wMmASsHFNeflUlp8DHXBIGxOEFw30p4ltaDW5wYnC0kRSHgjkHhn4eyJww5pTcz45xf5qMQkhcQuYnBEY6VpN-WuJmwk4jiLd6cLn9K/s320/mac.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">i'm not a big girly-girl type. </span><span style="font-size: small;">i like to look nice, but i'm of the "less is more" frame of mind when it comes to things like make-up and beauty routines. luckily, i have really easy to care for skin or else i might have to a do a bit more.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">at night, i use </span><span style="font-size: small;">some wal-mart store brand eye make-up remover and facial cleansing cloths. </span><span style="font-size: small;">for my morning routine i use </span><span style="font-size: small;">a facial cleanser with microbeads to </span><span style="font-size: small;">wash my face in the shower. i used to use mary kay products, but the ordering process took a bit too much time for me. the wal-mart stuff seems to work just as well and it's a fraction of the cost.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">one thing i don't skimp on is my make-up. for years, i've used m.a.c. products. they're a bit on the pricey side for me, but they've never let me down. plus, i love that you can go in any m.a.c. store and get made up (gratis) for special events. they did my make-up for my baby shower, and this summer when my husband and i were out in l.a. for the b.e.t. awards, i even stopped by the the m.a.c. store on hollywood boulevard to get my make-up done. they were totally booked and i couldn't get in, but the nice chick behind the counter did at least take the time to give me some pointers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">i use </span><span style="font-size: small;">m.a.c.'s under eye concealer for my baby bags. </span><span style="font-size: small;">i skip the foundation and all that other stuff and just apply a thin layer of pressed powder in nw50 to even things out. i use m.a.c. eye shadow as well, but i'm still a fan of my classic maybelline mascara.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.maybelline.com/index.aspx"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmZ2HJeIf8eLsjiiUgIzm1ASQzvYCbeRLu-k4b4wWdyoevCI_cl9f0SEzG3LChx_0Dys2liTia-h6rbSl6NAYeJuuIBZEktwg7Cah7QfUK0qFcdtSJlUT6gJFNfhejfMOUua_/s1600/the_truth.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">a couple weeks ago we went to college station for a health education conference. while packing up, my toiletries pack must have gotten dropped, because the next time i opened up my powder, i saw the dreaded dropped compact effect with the powder all broken up into small pieces.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">i made it out to the m.a.c. store last week to pick up some new powder and some black eye shadow. while i was there, i decided to ask about a rumor that i had heard a while back. you know, the one about if your bring 6 empty make-up containers to the store, you can get a free item?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">now everyone may not love free make-up, but everyone definitely loves free ish. </span><span style="font-size: small;">i first heard the rumor several years ago and started collecting a stash of empty compacts and concealer tubes </span><span style="font-size: small;">at home</span><span style="font-size: small;">. but i was kind of skeptical about the whole thing, so i never did anything with them. everyone knows that nothing is <i>really </i>ever free. take the <a href="http://gawker.com/5242778/oprah-kfc-coupon-riot">oprah/ kfc chicken debacle</a> for example. sadly, i was one of those foolish folks who printed out my coupon and took my happy tail down to the nearest kfc on my lunch break, only to be turned away hungry and slightly ashamed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">but, to my surprise, the <strike>girl</strike> <strike>guy</strike> person that checked me out confirmed that yes, you can actually get a free lipstick if you bring in 6 empty containers to the m.a.c. stores in macy's. he must have seen me looking, like <i>who the hell wears lipstick in 2010?</i> when he added that </span><span style="font-size: small;">if you take the items to a free-standing m.a.c. store, </span><span style="font-size: small;">you can get either an eye shadow, lip gloss or lipstick.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">very cool....i'll still probably call first just to make sure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-86462272270320591132010-10-15T21:45:00.000-05:002010-10-23T17:08:47.554-05:00everyone loves: the chilean miners<span style="font-size: x-small;">i was actually planning to write a different post about something that everyone loves. i don't plan on regularly writing about current events and the like on this blog. BUT, i just had to speak on the whole chilean miners rescue story-or actually the public <i>reaction</i> to the chilean miners story.</span><br />
<br />
on tuesday night, i was busy working on a project on my laptop and trying to keep babylove away from my laptop, so never had a chance to turn on the television or surf the net. wednesday morning, i log onto the book of faces, and all i see are these status updates saying "yay for the chilean miners being rescued", "they've got the first one out", "praise God the chilean miners are being rescued".<br />
<br />
now, i'm a christian and do believe in being thankful and giving Him the glory in things big and small. and there <i>have</i> recently been <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/West-virginia-mine-explosion-drilling-starts-find-trapped-miners/story?id=10296284">a lot of stories in the media</a> about miners dying on the job and how dangerous the mining industry is in general. but i guess i was just surprised/ shocked at how personally invested everyone around me seemed to be in this story. <br />
<br />
at first, i chalked it up to the fact that since the majority of stories on the new are negative-earthquake in haiti, somebody got murdered, the economy is tanking, politicians are being corrupt-that people were just happy to finally get a happy ending. but, i think it's something deeper than that. i mean, let's face it, there are plenty of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad tragedies happening everyday all around the world and even in our very own neighborhoods. the only difference is that the media doesn't have a camera rolling on them 24/7. take the ongoing aftermath of severe the flooding in afghanistan that nobody seems to care about, for example.<br />
<br />
maybe it's the cynic in me, but i had to stifle an eye roll early tuesday afternoon when i pulled up msn's page and saw the big red "breaking news" box announcing that the first miner had been rescued. i actually kind of tuned out of this whole miner saga about a month ago when i heard a radio "news" story about how the wife of one of the miners found out about his previously secret <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=miner+%2B+mistress&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8">affair with another woman</a> due to all of the media coverage. it's one thing to write or report a story, but when the story being reported is about the effects of the story being reported, it kinda makes my vision blur and my head start to hurt.<br />
<br />
it's kind of like the whole <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/2010/09/08/fbi-keeping-watch-on-quran-burning-threat.html">preacher plans to burn the koran on 9/11</a> story that got blown all out of proportion and resulted in <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/13/as-riot-deaths-mount-media-should-look-at-jones-partnership.html">deaths around the world</a> as well as probably posing a threat to our national security. this "preacher" is probably just some random loser that nobody every heard of who lucked up into notoriety because of our 24/7 news cycle.<br />
<br />
i love me some cnn, but last night while i was watching ac360, i just had to change the channel when anderson started talking to a correspondent on the scene. with a straight face, this reporter was talking about how the cheating miner's mistress loved watching the movie, titanic, and how she and this miner planned to hole up at home for days watching the movie now that he had been rescued. um, gag me with a spoon!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="325" style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; font: 11px arial; width: 395px;"><tbody>
<tr style="background-color: #e5e5e5;" valign="middle"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style="font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 5px 0px; text-align: right;">Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 14px;" valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-13-2010/rescue-in-chile" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rescue in Chile</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=26398713&postID=8646227227032059113"></a></td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #353535; height: 14px;" valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 5px 0px; text-align: right; width: 360px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" style="color: #96deff; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr>
<tr valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 0px;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#000000" flashvars="autoPlay=false" height="301" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:362028" style="display: block;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="360" wmode="window"></embed></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 18px;" valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/" style="color: #333333; font: 10px arial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/" style="color: #333333; font: 10px arial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Political Humor</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/Rally%20to%20Restore%20Sanity" style="color: #333333; font: 10px arial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rally to Restore Sanity</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table></td></tr>
</tbody></table><i>i guess i'm not the only one that noticed.</i><br />
<br />
i'm a news junkie and all, but this whole, putting people on a pedestal and the media's tendency to try to create a fairy tale out of real life is a bit off the chain these days. google, "propoganda" with pat tillman, jessica lynch, or ft. hood hero policewoman if you don't believe it. don't bother googling the phrase "chilean miners", i can already tell you that you'll get 345 million <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=chilean+miners&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8">hits</a>. <br />
<br />
i'll just a take a tip from the cheating miner's wife and <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/10/one_miners_wife_is_boycotting.html">sit this one out</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-85217293959047930732010-10-07T14:34:00.001-05:002010-10-07T14:35:41.881-05:00seriously?!: captcha editioni'm generally not a fan of the captcha. you know, those little word-gamey test thingies that it seems like nearly EVERY website is using nowadays to make sure that only <strike>robots, machines, spam viruses</strike> humans can log onto their sites.<br />
<br />
my beef with them is that even though i'm not a robot, a machine or a spam virus, the images are so hard to decipher that half the time i can't even figure them out. <br />
<br />
a typical scenario goes something like this:<br />
<br />
me: {<em>tilting head to side and squinty eyes}</em> is that a lower case "d" or a "c" and an "l" real close together and tilted to the side?<br />
<br />
website: you have entered an incorrect entry. please try again.<br />
<br />
me: {<em>banging head against the computer screen</em>}<br />
<br />
sometimes, i end up having to re-captcha about 3 or 4 times until i get one that i can actually figure out. usually the phrases seem like a random pairing of words that don't make any sense, so i figured that they were the result of some kind of randomly generated program. but last week i got the following when i was trying to log into the book of faces.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUBu1xKV3MxF8k4NK1tB-dtvg2cwx4nrbV4bDMjNnfONRODZnEkLTJtLcMl6d2fNXhKwDtPewOl4SDJpHYtZT7_xj_CYh7FojXZ7_CWvixb3HiDRYTDx0ExBzLK6pZ8Wrsub7/s1600/captcha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUBu1xKV3MxF8k4NK1tB-dtvg2cwx4nrbV4bDMjNnfONRODZnEkLTJtLcMl6d2fNXhKwDtPewOl4SDJpHYtZT7_xj_CYh7FojXZ7_CWvixb3HiDRYTDx0ExBzLK6pZ8Wrsub7/s320/captcha.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>surely this is someone's idea of a joke.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
maybe it's the new parent in me, but i didn't really find it funny...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-71867536883913906742010-09-28T19:45:00.000-05:002010-09-28T19:45:48.961-05:00guest room mood board<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">i’m a very visual person, so when i start decorating any room in the house, i always create a <span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/09/mood-board-making-into-the-wild/" target="_blank">mood board</a></span></span> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">(a technique i picked up from yhl). before i started using mood boards, i used to send all these different e-mails to myself from each store’s website so that i could remember items that i liked. but, since this was a little confusing and hard to keep organized before, i hate to think of what a mess it would be now on baby-limited sleep. i would also (and still do) create shopping lists at each of the home décor store sites that i frequent. </span></span></span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">if a brick and mortar store exists for whatever i have chosen, i usually end up picking it up in person. but, i actually really hate shopping and hate crowds even more, so online browsing definitely beats hoofing it around town to a million different stores in my free time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">for the mood boards, i use powerpoint to copy and paste pictures of the items. since i do about 99% of my home décor window shopping online, i also embed a link back to whatever websites that i found them on so that i can easily keep track of price changes and availability. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">without further ado, here's the guest room mood board:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tCFUL5bOoE2E13JXAP-rzsmjpmSPwL4y0rFRATw6hVRJpUw0Cx79IpJAsPB1uZF2i7fcIiMFta6fteXngSne0gzT-pnvdvBVOD2z1gkgoBqozPlG6Pa89MymEnZ1i6XGUQuM/s1600/guest_room_board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tCFUL5bOoE2E13JXAP-rzsmjpmSPwL4y0rFRATw6hVRJpUw0Cx79IpJAsPB1uZF2i7fcIiMFta6fteXngSne0gzT-pnvdvBVOD2z1gkgoBqozPlG6Pa89MymEnZ1i6XGUQuM/s320/guest_room_board.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-27921482885698763882010-09-16T14:14:00.004-05:002010-09-19T20:15:14.021-05:00method to the madnessone of the items on my <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2010/09/labor-days.html" target="_blank">labor day weekend to-do list</a> was renovating my guest room. i managed to get a lot done, but i have to admit that i am still not completely finished. this was my first project post-babylove, and guess what i learned? a) babies don’t like the sound of a drill b) babies don’t like competing with home decorating for mommy’s attention, or c) all of the above. if you guessed “c”, you win the prize.<br />
<br />
thankfully, my husband was able to keep her pre-occupied for most of the day. but it was still very slow going just because i am the <span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/murphy%27s_law" target="_blank">murphy’s law</a> </span></span>magnet when it comes to anything do-it-yourself related.<br />
<br />
hopefully, i’ll be able to reveal the completed room this month, but until then, here’s a little peek into how the design idea for this room came into being:<br />
<br />
i really love the décor eye candy that a nice hotel room provides. my husband and i did a lot of travelling last year, and at each place that we stayed, i tried to figure out what it was that i liked most about the rooms so that i could recreate it in our guest room back home. even though i like the basic “blank slate” that hotels provide, i knew that i also wanted to add details to personalize our space and give it a comfy feel. i loved the casual comfort and local décor in this cabo san lucas hotel room:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzZxcrk9O0OfxrJ_2vlX_076FQRJ39netUyvB5OyNB7_QCZl67vtbZeWznJm2eao7VV-mxE55PI4JIsZRpWjjiwomardBwpUc6VkcJkLJHatsoBbxmqLrS7_EGwmyBMlZHalV/s1600/DSC02064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzZxcrk9O0OfxrJ_2vlX_076FQRJ39netUyvB5OyNB7_QCZl67vtbZeWznJm2eao7VV-mxE55PI4JIsZRpWjjiwomardBwpUc6VkcJkLJHatsoBbxmqLrS7_EGwmyBMlZHalV/s320/DSC02064.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>the peek-a-boo window looks into the bath area</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Co7-Z8wUF-jasGo7X9dTSCSr2DVL4FmC5av8cJawojHlADXjS1VPfhYhUuSMs3RSu6H9t8gJQQoHjyD20L4FnmDvfIx0twou_RXi-9KF6xSbDV10cp5Eisj3pRJ86srj0DsA/s1600/DSC02062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Co7-Z8wUF-jasGo7X9dTSCSr2DVL4FmC5av8cJawojHlADXjS1VPfhYhUuSMs3RSu6H9t8gJQQoHjyD20L4FnmDvfIx0twou_RXi-9KF6xSbDV10cp5Eisj3pRJ86srj0DsA/s320/DSC02062.jpg" /></a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjlcIjCRXONN0Y0oOGiJI1Ayd092W06MyKbBEzoeMPYvIyvO_6VaPbVSrC16scEca2tNIPkDUE40vg2D_b9Mi4g6FUBZZ7UStYz9F3EVliywjDgwXUIsFHzTmmTmN05_jz003/s1600/DSC02065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjlcIjCRXONN0Y0oOGiJI1Ayd092W06MyKbBEzoeMPYvIyvO_6VaPbVSrC16scEca2tNIPkDUE40vg2D_b9Mi4g6FUBZZ7UStYz9F3EVliywjDgwXUIsFHzTmmTmN05_jz003/s320/DSC02065.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>view from the other side</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">but i also really like the ornate feel of <a href="http://www.grandbohemianhotel.com/_images/_gallery/photogallery/4.jpg" target="_blank">this room</a> that we stayed in for a friend's wedding.</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"></span> <br />
my guest room reno kind of stalled out for awhile as i tried to figure out what i wanted to do with the room. then, since the space was fully furnished (although not decorated the way i wanted) it got totally pushed to the backburner when i got pregnant and started planning babylove’s nursery. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt;">i ended up deciding that i wanted the guest room to have a modern but eclectic “world traveler” vibe. i also prowled the internets looking for ideas. things really started to gel for me when i found these two pictures:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL56SCOiQNN5EgZimfQ2pDWXPm8Mm7aQFk5NAWFzYUj-F8TEPiucotCQ8sl-S16tRkj8YzCfLa3lR3Ulj9TQQzvyH-c1kdu9OIcO5zv5n7NTc7jE9keiGq0DY8iXBeajjgT9Mj/s1600/waldo_fernandez.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL56SCOiQNN5EgZimfQ2pDWXPm8Mm7aQFk5NAWFzYUj-F8TEPiucotCQ8sl-S16tRkj8YzCfLa3lR3Ulj9TQQzvyH-c1kdu9OIcO5zv5n7NTc7jE9keiGq0DY8iXBeajjgT9Mj/s320/waldo_fernandez.png" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EyEpx2ofejOoQ-RrOhISJ3liXhs_4oYchAwOet4m7NZmqzo_gWYcUG-JBL0HV0LuHiMS7JA2hVxVOmtRSZWLL3Por7gs7La-cYT36w8a0wQt8ntYGIlY4TWzvyeopXG1FaSR/s1600/thehills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EyEpx2ofejOoQ-RrOhISJ3liXhs_4oYchAwOet4m7NZmqzo_gWYcUG-JBL0HV0LuHiMS7JA2hVxVOmtRSZWLL3Por7gs7La-cYT36w8a0wQt8ntYGIlY4TWzvyeopXG1FaSR/s1600/thehills.jpg" /></a></div><br />
the <a href="http://materialgirlsblog.com/newyork/2010/05/27/elle-decors-top-25-a-list/" target="_blank">first picture</a> is by designer waldo fernandez and WOW! i am in love with the colors and the contrast between the clean lines and bold geometric patterns and the livable furniture.<br />
<br />
the second picture is kinda sucky because it’s a picture that i took with my phone while i was watching tv. i was laying in bed one night watching the the dvr'ed last episode of the hills when i literally had to rewind, then pause, put down my sleeping baby and take a picture of this lovely scene at <a href="http://www.casasugar.com/pictures-kristin-cavallaris-living-room-furniture-decor-9088998" target="_blank">kristin’s alleged house</a>. even with the source list, i don’t have a major television channel bankrolling my decorating budget, so i wasn’t going to simply buy everything that she had. <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt;">for me, half the fun of recreating a room that i love is being able to find similar items and get the same look for a fraction of the price. kinda like <span style="color: black;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.instyle.com/instyle/lookforless/" target="_blank">this</a></span></span>, but for your home instead of your wardrobe. hotels have deep pockets and get price breaks for buying in bulk so there’s usually no way that i’m trying to buy the exact items that they have.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt;">so that's a little overview of how the design of this room came together. once the room itself is together, you can see if i was able to pull it off.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-85942543379294120492010-09-07T11:45:00.016-05:002010-10-23T19:03:30.783-05:00james bond swagit's been a while since my husband and i have been to the movies together. we have netflix, so unless a movie is supposed to be really good (like, the last two twilight movies, both of which i saw at the theater despite having to endure frequent pregnancy-induced bathroom breaks)* we usually just wait for the movie to come to us rather than going to it. i had seen commercials for the movie, takers, and immediately liked the "look" of the movie. because of the baby, we couldn't go see it on opening weekend, which i usually like to do. but, this past friday, my sister was nice enough to watch babylove for us so that we could go on our little movie date. <br />
<br />
we ended up going to a theater at the local outlet mall since it was closest to her house. we ended up lost in teenage date land, plus we missed the first five minutes of the movie (boo!). the plot, about a ring of sophisticated thieves, was decent enough, but it was well worth it just to take in all the visuals. in addition tothe clothes, flashy cars and the man candy (which i totally did not notice btw), the guys' homes had the coolest design schemes, very james bond swag. i couldn't find good screen shots of them from the movie, but here are a few pictures so that you can visualize:<br />
<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C7Y4zXldeFfZaG8_VeP3XKzxAC6QwLs_8hUM_jsMkSRr89jjX1HpQFtKUgvtS-MdAWBA-45D-yyNjazvUHvWpfxspvv17c4ysDTgtSjPzuHHTLSQ4QJla8ZIEF1fGbG-zOkr/s1600/modern_glass_wall2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0C7Y4zXldeFfZaG8_VeP3XKzxAC6QwLs_8hUM_jsMkSRr89jjX1HpQFtKUgvtS-MdAWBA-45D-yyNjazvUHvWpfxspvv17c4ysDTgtSjPzuHHTLSQ4QJla8ZIEF1fGbG-zOkr/s320/modern_glass_wall2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFCWJOf5RDA6Sqd2I5kBc-tw-sOd8Hea8g9hNAFgBrOs8Q6bijmDyPsgOZgSmvum1kjdqDpul5R3sqj-ZrMk4mS6aKxI_ci-5A9l-PL88nvQJ8oG2vtDn-3Kp5AuEx3zyf7fMP/s1600/modern_glass_wall1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFCWJOf5RDA6Sqd2I5kBc-tw-sOd8Hea8g9hNAFgBrOs8Q6bijmDyPsgOZgSmvum1kjdqDpul5R3sqj-ZrMk4mS6aKxI_ci-5A9l-PL88nvQJ8oG2vtDn-3Kp5AuEx3zyf7fMP/s320/modern_glass_wall1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
there was also this really cool rat-packish lounge that the group would hang out in with dim lighting, dark leather furniture and built-in wall safes and vodka martinis (shaken, not stirred). <br />
<br />
one of the more <a href="http://955thebeat.com/movies/notes/takers/note/4" target="_blank">climactic scenes in the movie</a> took place at the historic roosevelt hotel in hollywood. we actually walked right by the hotel on our trip to lala land in june, but didn't think to go in. i kinda figured it would have outdated decor and furniture with hard cushions that you can't get comfortable on no matter how hard you try. missed out on that experience. <br />
<br />
so, that was my take on takers, lots of eye candy of various types and a fun date night for all involved.<br />
<br />
<br />
*<i>since my husband is not a twilight fan, i had to disqualify him from attending with me...i'm sure he really cared.</i> ;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-24871283465576214802010-09-03T12:26:00.010-05:002010-09-03T12:26:00.775-05:00labor daysfor a while after i had my little one, each day was consumed by everything baby-related. by the time i had fed, bathed, dressed, changed, fed, played with and put the baby to bed, i would look up and my entire day would be gone. things started to get a little better….until i went back to work. then i ended up a sleep-deprived zombie shuffling through each phase of my day until crashing in bed each evening. five and a half months in, i’m happy to report that i’m FINALLY getting back to normal and feeling more like myself. which means i’ve got a ton of projects planned for my new-old house that had fallen by the wayside during my baby growing/birthing. my physical energy level still hasn’t quite caught up to my mental, so for this upcoming holiday weekend i’ve picked just a couple of projects that i hope to get done without pooping out.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>redo the guest room</b><br />
our guest room has come a long way. for a good year or so after we moved in, it was that room where the door basically stayed closed because i was too embarrassed to let anyone see the stash of boxes, unopened wedding gifts and random stuff that we had in there.<br />
<br />
<b>get rid of some clothes</b><br />
i already have a little box of clothes that i’ve been meaning to take to goodwill for the past i don’t know how long. before i got pregnant, we had planned on doing a big overhaul of the closet in our master bedroom and i’ve been using the fact that it hasn’t happened yet as an excuse to hold onto a bunch more clothes that need to go as well. after reading <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/09/email-answer-a-lean-lovely-closet/" target="_blank">this post</a> i <i>might</i> try to add a few more things to the box.<br />
<br />
<b>laundry</b><br />
i have several piles of clean laundry lying around that i need to hang up and put away. my husband, who has a ton of clothes, is really great at doing the laundry (read: he is great at operating the washer and dryer). from there, the clothes usually end up living on the couch or the guest room bed until he needs to wear them. i’m a little guilty of this as well, but in our defense, the current closet setup kind of sucks. hopefully after the reno it will be more functional and easier to use. in the meantime, i still need all the clean clothes off of the bed so that i can make my guest room nice and lovely for all of those nice, lovely house guests that we <strike>hardly ever</strike> have sleep over.<br />
<br />
that shouldn’t be too much for me to get done in a three-day weekend, right? <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nOJKhpc0khSlFNcoKzBju6Mb1fshTaMVuSoHgGgTKijgrMf6UPRtGo1xSXAqBm3PPR-1Yg-xqmU1uSoJk8srgd8TTI_8y7lZNq3v5c_cfFbWoGlgd6lepm0o7Xjv6-o4vaqr/s1600/nothingtodo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nOJKhpc0khSlFNcoKzBju6Mb1fshTaMVuSoHgGgTKijgrMf6UPRtGo1xSXAqBm3PPR-1Yg-xqmU1uSoJk8srgd8TTI_8y7lZNq3v5c_cfFbWoGlgd6lepm0o7Xjv6-o4vaqr/s320/nothingtodo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wishful thinking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-51884401341392087312010-09-02T10:28:00.007-05:002010-09-02T18:54:16.327-05:00type a<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkyiaJPkAM0-wdfXhdq4uYYl4pyMjmyzs2z77HmgOEdAyFrY6WMlFxEuvoj_ZOtN02kpKUuFeKOPwCxmPe5opkHp8mlXrbonY2OEgPKZZ2zYkKYB-VtofKmGHnxfgs9GUiCri/s1600/stressed+man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkyiaJPkAM0-wdfXhdq4uYYl4pyMjmyzs2z77HmgOEdAyFrY6WMlFxEuvoj_ZOtN02kpKUuFeKOPwCxmPe5opkHp8mlXrbonY2OEgPKZZ2zYkKYB-VtofKmGHnxfgs9GUiCri/s320/stressed+man.jpg" /></a></div><br />
in addition to being a new mommy of my sweet little babylove, i'm a full-time worker bee and also volunteer with a few charity organizations in the houston area. i've always been the type of person that loves to give back. i do feel very blessed and grateful for everything that i have. but even when i had nothing but time, there's something that i've always liked about getting out and helping others. all throughout my pregnancy i was on the go-heading to this meeting or that gala or using weekends to catch up on phone calls to this and that committee. with a new baby taking up what little free time i have, you might wonder why i even bother to keep up the extra-curriculars.<br />
<br />
most of the charities that i have worked with focus on some sort of <a href="http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/npa/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=1&lvlid=13" target="_blank">health disparity</a>, which is an issue that i personally find really interesting. i also really like the networking aspect of meeting people from different backgrounds and having the shared experience of making a change in the community. for the first time since i went back to work (in early june) i finally feel like i'm getting back to my regular self. but even though i <i>have</i> had to cut down on a few outside commitments, i still can't seem to get rid of my addiction to multi-tasking. that being said, i <i>do</i> place a lot more consideration into how i choose to spend my time.<br />
<br />
lately this has led to my (slight) frustration in how things are playing out with some of my organizations. i'm naturally a very motivated, goal-oriented person and i get super focused when it comes getting the job done. on the flip side, i get a massive brain itch that i can't scratch when others can't seem to do the same. yesterday, a girlfriend of mine asked me if i am a type a personality. now while the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_A_and_Type_B_personality_theory" target="_blank">definition</a> does contain some parts that i don't have any problem with, calling someone type a isn't exactly regarded as a compliment.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <br />
i try to be a pretty self-aware person, so although i <i>can</i> cop to having a bit of that in me, i'm usually repeatedly reminding myself to take a step back, breathe, and play my role instead of trying to take things over and do them the way that i think that they should be done. <br />
<br />
but, just to make sure, i decided to take a <a href="http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/type_a_personality_access.html" target="_blank">personality test</a> (i know, how "type a" of me). i was glad to see that i am NOT a strictly type a person, but that i have a mixture of personality types.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEzmlF6xza56M4MxOAE1rcGxRs8ACj7lazWayYeDIplVpD4WQ-5vOUc8ROi2GqfgRpSAv4t_nHnJ8Uh6gq-v_Gx9fR5ohyphenhyphenlAIgw5cZ4jYFdtX-dZuMWqc1G6miGMbgJEzKCzx/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEzmlF6xza56M4MxOAE1rcGxRs8ACj7lazWayYeDIplVpD4WQ-5vOUc8ROi2GqfgRpSAv4t_nHnJ8Uh6gq-v_Gx9fR5ohyphenhyphenlAIgw5cZ4jYFdtX-dZuMWqc1G6miGMbgJEzKCzx/s320/Picture1.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">courtesy of: http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/type_a_personality_access.html</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-78859079047213958752010-08-27T13:11:00.004-05:002010-08-27T13:27:04.114-05:00naija roll call: stacie turneri'm loving the dc edition of bravo's real housewives series (rhodc for those in the know). during last night's episode, which i actually got to watch on the day it aired (a rare occurrence since my babylove arrived), we found out some interesting tidbits about <a href="http://www.stacieturner.com/" target="_blank">stacie turner</a>, one of the housewives.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvlOHzl7D9DpA0DIAcE6BsEhqI-F0X_7lbauEInDxykkkkI-5Enb8ruyusTnhwscFNE4SR3TQiwnSpCDvX7sSKSoKiL7ea1szomsqvs6u94FfokMEGPqhcJUCYQiBmStpQZtp/s1600/Stacie-Turner-Real-Housewives-DC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvlOHzl7D9DpA0DIAcE6BsEhqI-F0X_7lbauEInDxykkkkI-5Enb8ruyusTnhwscFNE4SR3TQiwnSpCDvX7sSKSoKiL7ea1szomsqvs6u94FfokMEGPqhcJUCYQiBmStpQZtp/s320/Stacie-Turner-Real-Housewives-DC.jpg" /></a></div><br />
stacie has the distinction of being the only african-american housewife on the show. like our lovely michelle, she has a graduate degree from harvard, a successful career, and two young kids.<br />
<br />
we already knew from past episodes that stacie was <a href="http://www.essence.com/entertainment/hot_topics/rhodc_stay_turner_birth_parents.php" target="_blank">adopted</a> as an infant. but in last night's episode, we found out that she also has something in common with michelle's husband. it turns out that she is the bi-racial daughter of a caucasian mother and african father- a nigerian to be exact. <br />
<br />
i would have never guessed that she was one of my people. no wonder i like her so much. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-8500938853655502742010-08-15T16:07:00.056-05:002010-08-27T13:25:14.747-05:00hill country wedding</meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CBRIDGE%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CBRIDGE%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_editdata.mso" rel="Edit-Time-Data"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CBRIDGE%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CBRIDGE%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">this past weekend we went to austin for the wedding of a good friend of mine. it was my babylove's first official road trip (not counting the trip to my hometown when she was a couple of months old). </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">despite missing the actual ceremony :( due to <strike>the chronic lateness of my darling husband</strike> unforseen issues, we had a great time and got to bear witness to the beginning of their journey as a family.being nigerian, i'm used to weddings being a huge event with hundreds of guests partying all night. this couple was american, so it was kind of nice to enjoy ourselves, drink a little wine, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid_Shuffle" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;" target="_blank">cupid shuffle</span></a> a little and be back in our hotel room by 11 that night. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">the trip was also part business. the bride hired me to create the programs for the event. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel9soloIESx7jlxeFNgly68WkCvmQ73DEl11voebtc5AqZp-EVMNcFmEd5Cpz6H26jWV0cITstp5nGcrLd6svGZ9ysTuww6Cey22G5sqCVHngC79mEiWF_al22Ra_wIDyWMcu/s1600/DSC03309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel9soloIESx7jlxeFNgly68WkCvmQ73DEl11voebtc5AqZp-EVMNcFmEd5Cpz6H26jWV0cITstp5nGcrLd6svGZ9ysTuww6Cey22G5sqCVHngC79mEiWF_al22Ra_wIDyWMcu/s320/DSC03309.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>black tie affair. p.s. isn't that pillow gorgeous?!</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><br />
i love everything relating to entertaining and decorating. i originally decided to <a href="http://www.623designs.com/" target="_blank">design my own pieces</a> when i realized that everything that i liked was a) friggin' expensive and b) things that i could do myself. i ended up creating the save the dates, reply cards and programs for my own wedding. since i'm totally a "champagne taste on a beer budget" kind of girl, i really like to keep costs reasonable for all of my designs. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">in the <a href="http://www.etsy.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">etsy</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span>version of my fantasy life, i would turn this hobby into a full blown operation and joyfully spend all my days matching paper samples to wedding themes. in the meantime, i have had the chance to play a small part in some very big days.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-1155967829206157752010-08-12T16:08:00.003-05:002010-08-25T15:54:51.273-05:00baby steps<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">last night i was able to get our daughter off to sleep in her own room and crib. at just under 5 months, she's at that stage where catch phrases like "self-soothe" and "cry it out" start cropping up in conversations. <br />
<br />
although she started out in her bassinet each night, i would usually bring her into bed with me to nurse. from there, we would usually end up falling asleep (until recently when i started to make a point of putting her back in the bassinet afterward). we have a queen-sized bed, so you can imagine how comfy i am with my husband on one side taking up half the bed and my wild little sleeper kicking and stretching on the other side. it’s hard to believe that she was once so small that the fear of rolling over and squashing her in my sleep used to keep me up nights.<br />
<br />
back to last night: with a few disastrous attempts at <a href="http://www.babycenter.com/0_big-story-new-sleep-training-guidance-for-tired-parents_1524201.bc">sleep training</a> under my belt, i felt a growing sense of dread as we got closer to bedtime. i was pretty much convinced that this time would be just as difficult. but to my surprise, instead of being met with the crying and squirming of past attempts (including the night before last when i decided to try a mish-mash of popular sleep training methods), she laid there quietly for about 5 minutes and then drifted off without so much as a whimper.<br />
<br />
i expected to be ecstatic that we were able to reach this milestone, especially after only a handful of attempts. instead, it was a quiet moment that was more than a little bittersweet.<br />
<br />
i already miss seeing that sweet little face and having the security of hearing her every minute breath and movement during the night. she’s only a few months old and already needs me less.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-18824227265912155962010-07-15T15:36:00.018-05:002010-10-23T21:29:06.131-05:00what a difference 4 years makesso...where to begin?<br />
<br />
4 years to the day my last post was written, i found myself married to a <a href="http://everyonelovesanaijababe.blogspot.com/2006/04/pain-is-in-resistance.html">wise (and very cute) man</a> and at home on maternity leave with the baby of said wise (and very cute) man.<br />
<br />
my absence wasn't exactly on purpose. it was more a combination of being a super private (to the point of paranoia) person and also not really being sure that i had anything worth saying to anyone but myself. and while both of these are probably still the case ;-), i've decided to give this another shot.<br />
<br />
in the 4+ years since i started this blog, the whole blogging thing has come a long way. even though <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020211-198891,00.html">weblogs</a> weren't totally unheard of in '06, the whole concept of keeping this online accounting of one's whole life just seemed very weird to me back then. i've always loved to write, but having a blog just struck me as kinda self-important and grandiose (ironically this is EXACTLY the same way i feel about twitter now).<br />
<br />
the first blog that i remember reading was the smitten, which actually doesn't even <a href="http://www.thesmitten.com/">exist</a> anymore (in its previous format anyway).<br />
<br />
but since then, i've connected with quite a few blogs out on the "interwebs". i look to <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/">john and sherry</a> when i need inspiration for fixing up my new-old home. i check out <a href="http://makingitlovely.com/category/fashion/">nicole's blog</a> when i want to change up my style. it would have been nice to have <a href="http://untiligetmarried.com/">jozen's</a> p.o.v. back when i was a dating chica. and i can't forget to mention how <a href="http://pacingthepanicroom.com/">ryan</a> and <a href="http://desireesdaydreams.blogspot.com/">desiree's</a> blogs both win my "keeping it real" award.<br />
<br />
i can't quite remember how i stumbled upon all of these blogs. but it's pretty cool to be able to identify with all of these slices of life out there.<br />
<br />
when i was in grad school (sometime between when i wrote my last post and now), i took this class where we learned about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations">diffusion of innovations theory</a>. it basically breaks the population into categories based on how accepting people are of new things.<br />
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so go ahead and lump me in with the laggards, i FINALLY have an active blog! and i give you permission to laugh at me if it takes me until 2014 to set up a twitter account.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398713.post-1145421851213658312006-04-18T23:43:00.000-05:002006-04-19T08:51:47.523-05:00the pain is in the resistance<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">i bought a new cell phone today and in order to get all my numbers and stuff changed over, i had to leave both the old and new phones at the sprint store overnight and pick them up tomorrow. without my phone, i felt kinda isolated and lonely-had some real separation anxiety. i felt very disconnected and couldn’t wait to get home to call my peeps. but then it got kind of cool because i was able to just think about some things without distraction.<br /><br />what i came up was this: i’m a calculating person. okay, maybe i knew that already. and maybe that’s not the most desirable quality in a person and i’m sure it’s not even usually considered a positive trait. but that’s what i am. i’m also logical and efficient and impatient…and germaphobic-but i’ll save that last one for later.<br /><br />so, in all my calculated logicalness i’ve come up with this perfect little world where everything i do has a reason and a thought process behind it, the culmination of which is my being content and happy and…safe. this all happens automatically of course (i did say efficient). i’m not very adventurous in a risk taking kind of way-not to be confused with adventurous in a driving on I-10 during rush hour kind of way…even my spontaneity is planned, which is why i know that at some point in my life, just one time, i’m going to go skydiving. pretty sad, i know, but it works. getting back to the point…this whole logical, efficient frame of reference doesn’t lend itself well to all situations.<br /><br />since i’ve already figured out my entire universe, it sometimes takes a little effort to adjust to someone else’s frame of reference, as in see where they’re coming from. i mean i’m not saying anyone else is wrong and i’m right, i’m just saying that i know what’s right for me. so a while back i started playing devil’s advocate with it. whenever i would disagree with something coming at me or find myself in a situation where i have no control over the way things are gonna go down, i just accept at face value whatever that other viewpoint is and roll with it. after awhile it was like a total mind shift and it opened my eyes to the fact that there were other ways to handle situations that were at least as good as the way i would have gone about it....okay, so some were better. but the main thing was that i started seeing that different p.o.v’s weren’t inherently inferior just because i hadn’t thought of them first. imagine that.<br /><br />it kind of led me to believe that half the problem with me seeing other viewpoints is in trying to hold onto my personal notions of how things should be instead of just going with the flow.<br /><br />at work, my department’s been going through a lot of changes, people and policies, etc. and i noticed this sign that someone had put up called “adept at adapting” by david bowman, this human resources guru type that basically says the same stuff i just said in the last paragraph. so where am i going with this? well the points that he made also applied to other areas of my life as well.<br /><br />take for instance matters of the heart. not exactly my strong point. oh, i’ve been there several times before and come out somewhat worse for the wear. it’s water under the bridge now, but the lasting effects are some lingering trust issues. so whenever i get in a new situation, my first instinct is to guard and guard and guard, never give ‘em an inch but try to get closer until that point where i’m just like, alright already. stop being scary and go with the flow. it’s at this point that disaster typically ensues.<br /><br />well, i’m in this new thing now…actually it’s not that new, tomorrow will be one of our anniversaries (we met a little over 2 years ago, but it took us (read: me) a while before we got it together). but, i’m in this thing now and i’ve been realizing that i’ve been subconsciously resisting the natural progression of things by being my calculated logical self.<br /><br />a wise (and very cute) man once told me “the pain is in the resistance” and i now know that he’s right.<br /><br />when i come straight home from work and get my arse up and go running and then come back and hit the pilates it’s a lot easier than when i sit around first and think about how hard it’s gonna be to get my arse up and go running and then come back and hit the pilates. also when i don’t feel like studying for my health ed certification exam that’s coming up this saturday and instead i sit around thinking deep thoughts, it’s a lot harder to actually go study (but i’m gonna do it tonight-i promise). the key for me is less thinking and more doing.<br /><br />so when it comes to the l-word, i think we get so used to holding onto past hurts or past ways of being and past baggage that it seems so hard to let the $#!* go, when actually the pain you’re feeling is really b/c your fingers are all clenched up trying to grab a hold of this stuff as it’s being pulled out of your life to make room for blessings. they say that you’re supposed to love like you’ve never been hurt. i say that there’s always the possibility that this may lead to more hurt, but it’s a certainty that confusion and pain are caused when you love like you’re afraid of being hurt.<br /><br />so in this, too, i’ve decided to acquiesce………</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0