Running Just As Fast As I Can

Jury Duty Today

2012-02-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

So I need a laugh, because I am 99.9% sure this day is going to suck!

Exercising My Bump Off

2012-02-11T11:48:00.004-05:00

When I first got pregnant, I was a lazy piece of shit. Seriously! I would wander around the neighborhood, with Finley, for about 10 minutes and call that a work out. This went on for about three months and then I actually couldn’t stand myself any more.

It never got this bad, but it was close!

I had gained too much weight, way too quickly and I was really sad about that. So I joined a gym and starting working out again. Nothing intense, just some walking on the treadmill but it made me feel so much better about myself.

Then around Thanksgiving, the doctor told me I could run again. Cue the heavenly chorus. My mood was immediately better and the weight gain really slowed down! The runs were slow and there was a lot of walking and bathroom breaks. But I didn’t care. I felt like a champion again!

At almost seven months pregnant, the runs aren’t really happening any more. The baby kicks my bladder constantly and it is just too annoying for words when I have to go to the bathroom about 150 times during a 3 mile run. So I switched to the elliptical. I leave the gym sweaty and beaming every time!

I truly used to believe that when I got pregnant I would love not working out. I would look at these 9 months as the first time in my life that I could just relax and be a lazy person. But in reality, I am just not a lazy person. And laying around doesn’t make me happy. Being a sweaty, she beast makes me happy.

I can’t wait for the day, post baby, when I work out so hard that my t-shirt is soaked. When I get in my first long run in over a year. When my legs are almost shaking because I literally just kicked their ass.

That will be the best day!

Bitches Be Taggin’

2012-02-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

I haven’t done one of these in the longest time! Danica tagged me, I was pretending to work, so I said What the Hell! I tagged another random 11 at the bottom of this post.

The Random Eleven

The Rules:

Post these rules
You must post 11 random things about yourself
Answer the questions set for you in their post
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 Random Facts About Me:

I read a book almost every day of the week. In 2011, I read over 700 books.
I rarely buy books. I am 110% devoted to my library. I am probably the only one of my friends who actually uses the library and I am legitimately sad that when we finally move, I may have to switch to a different library branch. I is a book nerd!
I am list obsessed. I make a to do list every morning. I have another one constantly running in my phone. There are post it notes and tiny lists literally all over my house. It is a total obsession.
I hate emptying the dishwasher. I don’t know what it is but I always end up wet after I do it. I will hand wash dishes to avoid emptying the dishwasher.
I am in a fully committed relationship with my shredder. I am actually on shredder number 4 and all of them other three died from excessive use. It is like Watergate 365 days a year.
I hate blow drying my hair but I hate the way it looks when I let is air dry. Honestly, I just hate my hair…period!
I call my Louis Vuitton Speedy bag Louie and I talk about him like he is a person.
I am convinced that because I watch Teen Mom on MTV, I will automatically be a better mother. They are so damn stupid and it makes me feel so so so much better about myself.
I can’t stand long nails. I cut my nails every week, sometimes twice a week, so they are really short.
I never watch live TV and I would literally die without my DVR. I hate not being able to fast forward through the commercials.
I can’t stand having trash, clutter or excess in my house. I am constantly donating clothes, books, etc. If I haven’t used it in 6+ months, its gone and I am ruthless about it. Scott thinks I am insane!

11 Questions from Danica:

What’s your favorite article of clothing? Yoga pants
Morning person or night owl? Morning person, I get up around 5 or 6 every day
How many glasses of water do you drink a day? 8+, I am obsessed
What is your biggest fear? Finley passing away. I know I am going to be beyond devastated when it happens!
Starbucks or Coffee Bean? Starbucks- I sold my soul!
What was the best gift you’ve ever gotten? Finley. She was actually Scott’s gift, but I claim her as mine!
What is your favorite color? blue, blue and more blue
Would you rather get a phone call every hour from a stranger or not have a cell phone for a year? A call every hour, I need my phone!
MLB or NBA? Philadelphia Phillies baby! MLB all the way. Who actually watches the NBA? Ha ha
Do you use a daily planner? Religiously. I actually back up my Outlook Calendar with a paper planner. I shouldn’t have admitted that. Now I sound like an even bigger loser!
What’s one thing on your ‘bucket list?’ Visit all 50 states

Questions for Peeps I am taggin:

Favorite Candy?
What is one item you couldn’t live without?
Favorite guilty pleasure TV show?
Online shopping or stores?
Best book you ever read?
Tea or Coffee?
Dog or Cat person?
What is your favorite holiday?
If you had an unlimited gift card to one store, what would it be?
Last time you were incredibly happy?
Best Valentine’s Day gift ever?

Phew, that was hard to come us with all those questions! I am tagging:

Enjoy!

Moving on Out…

2012-02-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

Good news- I am 99% sure we sold our house. As my dad likes to say, it isn’t sold till the check is in the bank. Our closing is about three weeks away, so fingers/toes/eyes crossed nothing bad happens!

Bad news- We don’t have a house to move into. We had a house that we LOVED! As I liked to say, I lived there in my head. But we couldn’t come to an agreement with the owner, so we had to walk away from it. I was really sad at first but now I am just pissed. Meow!

Good news- The people that bought our house are allowing us to do a rent back. So even though we close in three weeks, we have up to three more months to find a house to buy.

Bad news- This baby is coming in about two and a half months. Moving with a newborn is not ideal, so fingers/toes/eyes crossed we will find a house before that happens.

Why does it always seem like all this crazy crap comes down to crunch time? I know it will all work out before the baby comes, but it is definitely stressful.

A couple of years ago, we got married, bought our first house and I ran my first marathon all within the span of a couple of months. Nothing like keeping yourself busy, right?

Worst case scenario, I am moving into my parents beach house and not leaving till the end of the summer. I just haven’t told them that yet….

Pregnancy is Humbling

2012-02-08T11:23:00.000-05:00

That is really the only way I can describe this experience. My body is changing and doing crazy things and there is absolutely no way I can control it.

It has been really, really hard for me to let go of this control and while I am not 100% there yet, I am getting close. That only took 6+ months!

Do you want to know what was the most humbling?

The day my jeans split in the crotch, when I had a huge work event to go to. Yes, that happened. Even better, I was forced to wear them to the event even after they split. Want to know why?

Because it is really hard to buy maternity clothes and I have had to buy most of mine online.
I was traveling and these were the only pants I packed.
I have been too cheap to buy more than one pair of maternity jeans because I really don’t like them and can’t wait till I don’t have to wear them any more.
I knew the jeans were a little tight but I just didn’t want to have to buy another pair.

Yeah, that was a humbling experience. Instead of hysterically crying like I normally would of done, I actually laughed when it happened. I mean, it is just too ridiculous for words.

Thank god maternity shirts are so long that I don’t think anyone noticed…..I hope!

What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you when you were pregnant?

Klout?

2012-02-07T11:17:00.001-05:00

Do you know what a Klout Score is? Before today, I had no idea. I have been doing a ton of Social Media work with my job lately and I usually don’t bother with stuff like this personally. After all, isn’t this for fun????

But I figured I would give my ego a huge blow and find out what my score is. After all, Klout measures influence online!

According to the Klout website, “Our friendships and professional connections have moved online, making influence measurable for the first time in history. When you recommend, share, and create content you impact others. Your Klout Score measures that influence on a scale of 1 to 100.”

So what is my score?

I received a score of a 28. Out of 100 that doesn’t seem that awesome but I really have no idea.

What is your score? Where you surprised when you saw it?

Off to Florida

2012-02-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

I am headed down to Florida for the weekend to see my grandparents. My pale, pale skin could sure use some time in the sun!

Have a great weekend!

I am Seriously Sick of These Videos

2012-01-26T11:01:00.000-05:00

But I have had this love/hate relationship with bangs for years! Ask my sister, it is 90% of what I talk about because I am a narcissistic psycho obsessed with my hair!

Please tell me I am not the only one…#totesobsessed

Drumroll Please

2012-01-25T10:46:00.000-05:00

Big news on the blog today…..

We have finally picked a name for Baby T. I know a lot of people don’t like to share the baby name till the baby comes but I am not like that. Once I make a decision, verbal diarrhea sets in and I have to tell everyone!

So without further ado……

We are naming him Max Michael T.

I feel a huge sense of relief that we have picked a name and I am finally starting to think of him as Max instead of just the baby in my stomach. I think Max is a good strong name and sense this is the year of the Dragon, Max will probably be an aggressive, over achiever just like his parents!

According to my hygienist at the dentist office yesterday, being born under the sign of the Dragon is considered very lucky. According to Wikipedia, being born under the Dragon means you are “Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.” I am not usually into all that mumbo jumbo (as I call it) but I think this all sounds pretty good for Baby Max!

I was born under the sign of the Rooster, which means I am “neat, meticulous, organized, self-assured, decisive, conservative, critical, perfectionist, alert, zealous, practical, scientific, responsible. Can be over zealous and critical, puritanical, egotistical, abrasive, proud, opinionated, given to empty bravado”, according to Wikipedia. Not all lovely traits but no one is perfect!

Scott was born under the Snake, which is “Deep thinker, wise, mystic, graceful, soft-spoken, sensual, creative, prudent, shrewd, elegant, cautious, responsible, calm, strong, constant, purposeful. Can be loner, bad communicator, possessive, hedonistic, self-doubting, distrustful, mendacious, suffocating, cold.” He is very calm and always cautious. Funny how accurate these signs are?

What sign were you born under?

Bad Blogger- Part 4,568,987

2012-01-24T10:37:00.001-05:00

I feel like I constantly think of myself as a bad blogger lately. I don’t seem to post with any regularity anymore and my posts are all over the board. Then I remember that this isn’t my job and I do this for fun. I seriously need to cut myself a break!

I am trying really hard to only focus on attainable goals right now. I am officially in my 6th month of pregnancy and people say you need to slow down. Bah ha ha ha, that isn’t happening.

But if I focus on things I can get done, then I feel better about myself. Like doing the laundry. That is attainable. Being Victoria Beckham skinny, 6 months preggo, not attainable. I need to let that dream go!

I feel on the stairs last week. No worries, myself and the baby are fine but it was definitely an eye opener. I really do need to slow done a little. Not in the essence of the amount of things I accomplish each day but in the constant rushing around that I do. No one needs to go down the stairs in 2 seconds. I can learn to take my time!

With the fall, I had to take a week off from the gym. I felt so bad about myself all week, like I was 400 lbs over weight. My body is changing and while I don’t love it, I have to accept it. I am not saying to lay on the couch with a bag of Oreos each day. That is abuse. But spending a week relaxing isn’t a horrible thing. And a growing stomach means a growing baby, so that is a good thing. Even if my pants don’t love it!

I feel like trying to accept things is my way of coming to terms with home much my life is changing. In the next four months, I will:

-Have my first child

-Sell my first house

-Buy my second house

-Double the size of my business (we are buying another company)

This is a lot and I am going to be really busy. I probably won’t have time to read a ton of books or catch up on blogs or even blog every day like I am used to. But all this change is good, so I am really looking forward to it.

How has your life changed recently?

Weekend Time!

2012-01-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

I am so glad that the weekend is finally here. This week was long and difficult and I am THRILLED it is over!

My parents are visiting this weekend and I can’t wait to see them.

What are you doing this weekend?

This is Going to Be a Long One

2012-01-18T08:50:00.001-05:00

Sit down, grab a cup of coffee, you are going to be here for awhile…. Excited????

As I mentioned yesterday, my last couple of days have been shitastic. I mean SHITTY!

On Saturday, Scott and I FINALLY got an offer on our house. It was really low, but it was an offer. We started hagling back and forth, hoping to come to a conclusion soon. Just when we thought all was good…..my neighbor put their house on the market for $25,000 less than us. Ahhhhh. Our buyer immediately countered our last offer with a super low offer.

So we spent all day yesterday crunching numbers, hoping we can come to some agreement. Do we sell the house at a loss and hope we get an amazing deal on the next house? Do we let the buyer buy the neighbors cheaper house, take it off the market and then hope a second buyer comes around? Do we just throw in the towel and decide to stay in this house for a couple more years?

Obviously, if you have ever sold or bought a house you know how stressful it can be. I really don’t know what to do. I am trying soooooo hard to make a smart decision when in reality I want to throw in the towel and just move. We have so much on our plate right now:

-Buying a house

-Selling a house

-Baby on the way

-More work for Scott

-My company is buying another company

-etc.

It would be really nice to cross two things off that list!

On top of the house stress, I had dinner with my cousins last week and came home convinced I was the worst parent ever because I hadn’t done 90% of the things they mentioned at dinner. I had a meltdown, make about 10 to do lists and starting hacking things off my lists. Then I watched Teen Mom and knew I was guaranteed to be a better mom than any of them. Phew!

We are interviewing day cares and pediatricians in the next couple of weeks. I have no idea what I am doing, so any suggestions would be great. I know there are questions we should be asking, I just don’t know what they are. Help a sister out!

I know every new mom has these moments, so I don’t feel totally insane. I just wish the emotions wouldn’t swing to such highs and lows so many times each day! I am starting to feel slightly unstable! Anyone else?

On the plus side, my running is going great right now. Scott and I joined Planet Fitness. (If you have one by you, you should def join. They are ridiculously cheap!) We go 3-4 times a week and I do 30-50 minutes of run/walking. I usually walk for the first 10 minutes and then try to run as long as I can. I have to take breaks because I constantly have to go to the bathroom, but the other day I ran for 25 minutes. I was so pleased!

Running makes me feel so strong and I feel a bit like myself again. Obviously I am not breaking any speed barriers but if it makes me feel good, I will take a 20 minute mile any day! What did you do during your pregnancy to feel better? Other than eat a whole pizza in one sitting-Don’t Judge!

Sorry to dish it all out in one sitting but it is hard to keep juggling all of these things. It is typical of Scott and I to try and do so much at once and I know it will all work out in the end. It is just a little bumpy right now!

Suckety Suck Suck Suck

2012-01-17T13:23:00.001-05:00

My last couple of days have been a little shitastic, so I leave you with this:

It is LITERALLY the only thing making me laugh right now!

Another Video…

2012-01-14T09:15:00.000-05:00

I am about done with these videos but this is hilarious:

I totally miss my dial up too!

Love This

2012-01-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

I saw this on a friend’s facebook page and just had to share it with all of you:

Isn’t it fantastic????

Ear Candy

2012-01-12T09:43:00.001-05:00

I just realized how gross that title sounds….

I have a bunch of baby shower’s coming up, mine and my cousin’s. I started thinking about my outfits yesterday (read stressing). I mean what do you cover a Beluga whale in?????

Part of my pregnancy philosophy is to buy as little clothing as possible. I don’t LOVE the way I look pregnant, I know I will want to burn all my clothes when I am done with this pregnancy, etc. I have bought one pair of jeans, 2 pairs of leggings and 5-6 shirts. THAT’S IT!

I figured I would buy one dress for the parties and then change up accessories, etc. I found a cute black dress on Target’s website for super duper cheap, so I decided to treat myself to some new earrings for the par-ties! I haven’t purchased any yet as I am still stuck in my indecisive, hemming and hawing stage but here are some of the contenders:

Everyone and their mother has these Kendra Scott earrings but I love them.

From Etsy

More Etsy

Even more Etsy

Max and Chloe

Stella and Dot

Really I love them all so I am not sure what I will buy yet. Which are your favs? Or do you have better suggestions for me??

Trying to Pull This Out of My Ass

2012-01-11T12:06:00.000-05:00

I am the world’s WORST decorator. It has taken me over 4 years to pull together a family room and now, we are hoping to move. So the thought of pulling together a nursery in the 4 months I have left to Baby T. hatches scares me.

On top of that Scott is NO HELP. His thoughts on decorating:

-He only loves the colors black, blue, dark green and gray. Blech.

-He believes all furniture should be dark brown.

-Chotchkies should be kept to a minimum or not at all.

My thoughts on decorating:

-I love everything

-No color is bad

-Everyone needs a little sparkle in their life

-If this nursery ends up baseball/Phillies themed I might throw up

-The older, the better

So our child is going to end up in a black room, with glitter and a disco ball. hmmmm

Not really, but I keep trying to reign in all of our ideas and put together some theme for this baby. On top of that, my head says we are moving, so I can’t even picture a nursery in this house. I don’t even want to talk about it!

So I need your help…. Here is what I have so far:

Baby’s Crib which I registered for.

Baby’s dresser which was mine growing up. I am going to take the mirror off (slightly unstable) and put a changing table top on it.

Rug for the floor

Yeah, that’s it. I am trying really hard to pick crib linens that pick up the colors in the rug. Here is what I have found for the bumper:

Favorites? Any suggestions?

And the sheets:

See what I meant? All over the place…

Covered Bridges Tour

2012-01-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

I checked number 15 off my 30 before 30 list this weekend!

I dragged/forced Scott to tour the covered bridges of Bucks county with me on Saturday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day and I had been dying to see them. We grabbed lunch at King of Prussia and then took the scenic tour to Bucks County (read we got lost a lot on back roads and it took forever to get there).

There are 12 remaining covered bridges in Bucks county and a customer of mine had told me about this tour. He said they were fantastic to see and it was definitely worth the trip! Most of the bridges were built around 1870 and are made of wood, so the fact that they are still standing is a miracle. Another miracle is that I was able to get my husband to agree to do this tour, since it was about as much fun as watching paint dry!

By the time we started the trip, I could already tell that Scott was a little annoyed with me. It had taken forever to get to Washington Crossing State Park (where the tour starts) and when we finally got there I had to go to the bathroom (shocker). I put on my best game face and starting sprouting out tons of covered bridge facts for him. Yeah, he was loving it!

We got a little lost on the way to the first bridge and from there it all went down hill. The back roads these bridges are on a very narrow, so there is no where to pull over. You literally drive by each bridge and can barely take it in. I really wanted to take pictures, so I forced Scott to pull over. This caused traffic to back up at each bridge! Awesome….

Not only are the roads to these bridges narrow, but they have a tendency to washed out or closed. We had to take a detour to almost every bridge and we had to turn around about 10 times. On top of that, the directions the county gives out, aren’t that great, so we got lost….A LOT. It was basically a giant clusterfuck!

By the third bridge, I thought he was going to smother me. I finally decided it was a lot cause and there was NO WAY we were going to see all 12 bridges. I am more than happy with the 5 bridges we did get to see and the face that my husband didn’t kill me during our tour!

So enjoy these pictures. I was almost run over at each bridge while I tried to get them!

Van Sant Bridge

The Loux Bridge

The Cabin Run Bridge

Scott pretending to be interested

Frankenfield Bridge

Erwinna Bridge

The tour was actually worth the drive alone. Bucks county is beautiful. It is filled with rolling hills, gorgeous barns, cute towns and mile of horse country. I think the drive would have been a lot smoother if we hadn’t done it in the winter. Then the roads would have been open and we wouldn’t have gotten lost so much.

What is the worse thing you have dragged your spouse/significant other to?

After the Gym, She Bakes Bread

2012-01-09T14:19:00.001-05:00

Alternate titles to this post could be “I am a crazy woman” or “She who has too much energy” or “Insane pregnant lady who can’t sit still.”

Friday night I went to the gym with Scott. I was actually able to run for once, so I got in a nice and slow 2.5 mile run/walk. Lately every time I try to run, I have to pee. Not very conducive to long distances but Friday I was able to hold it like a big girl. Yes, I just told you that!

We came home around 6pm and I had a ton of energy for some reason. So I decided to bake bread. Yeah, baked bread, on a Friday night….I am so cool!

I was perusing the internets the other day for some new blogs to read/stalk and I found Her Southern Charm. She had posted back in December about baking bread and it was the easiest recipe. So I decided to give it a whirl.

Here is the recipe:

My Basic Bread Recipe:

½ cup low-fat milk {I use almond milk}
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 packages active dry yeast
1 ½ cups warm water {105 F to 115 F}
5-6 cups all-purpose flour

Place milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 ½ cups flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time (up to 5.5 cups is what I added), and mix about 2 minutes, or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly stick to the touch.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf, and place in greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½-inch baking pans. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Simple enough right? One would think, but this is how the process went down at Casa de Chaos:

-Put ingredients in pan on low heat

-Decided I had to take down the Christmas tree

-Went down to basement for ornament boxes

-Filled one and remember pan on stove

-Skin on Milk (yucky), turned off stove and let cool

-Filled 2nd ornament box

-Mixed ingredients in mixer

-Put in bowl on stove to rise

-Ripped lights off tree and scattered pin needles everywhere

-Trucked all 40 tupperware boxes of decorations back down to basement

-Decided I had to reorganize storage closet because it was SOOOOO messy

-Realized I didn’t own a loaf pan

-Ate quick Lean Cuisine

-Ran to grocery store for loaf pans

-Put bread in pans to rise second time

-Finally showered

-Watch HGTV and ate candy

-Stared at clock waiting for bread to finish rising

-Finally put bread in oven

-Watched more HGTV

-Ate yummy slice of bread and passed out from exhaustion

This is not how my Friday nights used to be at all. I would go to the bar for happy hour and then stumble home around midnight, happy and slightly tipsy. Now I bake bread, clean and watch HGTV before passing out at 9pm. Lord, how my life has changed!

Yoga Laughs

2012-01-07T12:53:00.000-05:00

Namaste, Mutha Fuckas!!!!

These make me laugh every time I watch them!

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-06T09:41:00.000-05:00

Without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2012 (get excited):

Read five classic books. I do this every year and I can never seem to finish it. It makes me a little insane that something so simple seems to be unattainable for me. Especially since I read 769 books in 2011 (says Good Reads)
Visit two new states. This one shows up again. Can’t seem to achieve this one either!
Buy a new house (if someone would just BUY MY HOUSE!!!!!)
Get back to 120-130 lbs. My healthy and happy range is in this area. Once Baby T is here, this ass needs to get back into shape. PRONTO!
Start college fund for Baby T.
Run a ½ marathon in the Fall
Learn to knit socks

Since I also have to finish my 30 before 30 list, I hope these are attainable goals!

I know a lot of people don’t believe in resolutions but I love them. I like starting the New Year fresh with the hopes of achieving all these fantastic things and I just love ending December in a dark pit of gloom because I was too lazy to finish half of my list. Ha ha, not really. I actually feel great about what I accomplished in 2011!

What would you love to accomplish or change about your life in 2012?

Where Your Friends At????

2012-01-05T12:26:00.000-05:00

The lovely Muffy posted the other day about how hard it is to find friends as we get older. I was so glad to see her post, because frankly I feel the same way!

When we lived in Delaware, we lived there two years and I left with two friends. Two! And not to sound like a bigger loser, but I was related to one of them. She has to like me! I have never felt as alone as I did those two years. Scott worked at a restaurant at the time and we had opposite schedules. Other than drinks with my cousin or friend R, I spent every weekend by myself. Hence our fleeing to Maryland.

In Maryland, I had an AMAZING group of friends. I joined a book club right after I moved there and met the most amazing women. The group constantly evolved and I loved everyone of them. I met my running buddy R, through this group (check my header if you need a refresher on who R is!) Unfortunately, Scott hated Maryland and I didn’t like being so far from family, so we moved to PA and I had to leave these wonderful friends behind.

I was determined when we moved to PA to not be alone again. So I started my own book club (I think you all remember the Chernobyl like disaster that was!) and joined a running club. Obviously the book club fell apart, but I kept my awesome friend P and we get together almost once a month. I haven’t been to the running club in a long time (long story) and I don’t see those friends as often either.

Add in a pregnancy, where you are tired all the time and feel hideous and I am starting to feel like a giant loner. I feel like days go by where I never see anyone other than Scott and Finley. I went from having plans 3-4 days a week to nothing….crickets…..nada!

I know other people have to feel the same way as me…. So how do you make friends as you get older? And when did it become so hard? In kindergarten, all you had to do is share crayons. In college, you got drunk and you had 10 new besties (Ohhhh Myyyy Gawddddd). So what do I do now?

My mom keeps saying that once I have the baby, I will meet other moms and hang out with them. But what do you do till you meet those people? And what if I don’t have anything in common with the other moms? I mean, I am thrilled about this baby but I am not exactly warm and fuzzy. Baby talk isn’t going to cut it with this chica!

I am a little sad at the thought of so little friends in my life. I love to be around people! And I think I am making a lot of effort. So where are the rest of the friendless, pregnant, 29 year old, candy loving, blogging obsessed, semi runners hanging out these days. Not a Whole Foods!

2011 Resolutions

2012-01-04T12:13:00.000-05:00

Time to face the music. Here is what I wanted to accomplish in 2011:

Read five classic books ( I am not giving up on this one)
Save another $10,000. We want to move next year to a new house, so that is my incentive.
Visit two new states
Learn to eat more mindfully, instead of mindlessly stuffing my face.
Finish knitting my mittens and my sock monkey
See more of Philadelphia/Pennsylvania

And here is what I actually accomplished:

Read five classic books (This Side of Paradise, Tale of Two Cities, Treasure Island and Moby Dick)
~~Save another $10,000~~
Visit two new states
~~Learn to eat more mindfully, instead of mindlessly stuffing my face~~
Finish knitting my mittens and my sock monkey
~~Take a Photography Class~~
~~See more of Philadelphia/PA~~

As you can see, not so bad! I am still thinking about my 2012 goals but I really hope to have them done by the end of this week. Can’t wait to share them with all of you.

What are your 2012 Resolutions?

Sorry for Being a Shitty Blogger

2012-01-03T12:05:00.001-05:00

I kept meaning to post over the last two weeks but just couldn’t make myself do it! Here is what has happened to me:

Went to the Beach for Christmas
Got a facial and pedicure
Bought a new sweatshirt that I then wore for the next 3 days…It was RED and festive!
Broke out from said facial (sexy times)
Visited three states (NJ, DE and PA) and 4 families on Christmas day
Got the stomach flu
Prayed to die on my bathroom floor
Read 20 books while recovering in my dirty bed with Finley
Ate 2 boxes of saltines and drank swimming pools full of ginger ale
Pretended to work at the end of last week
Spent NYE on my couch watching House Hunters and drinking Martinelli’s sparkling cider- YES I AM THAT LAME!
Cleaned my filthy dirty house
Put away all the holiday decorations
Went to the grocery store and only bought frozen food
Did 7 loads of laundry
Wrote thank yous for Christmas gifts
Watched more House Hunters (OBSESSED)

Now that I just wrote that out for all of you, I just feel like a bigger loser!

Oh, well. Hope you all had a fab Christmas and New Years!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

I hope you all have a happy holiday!!!!!!

Love,

Alex, Scott, Finley and Baby T. (hatching in May 2012)

Off to the Shore

2011-12-21T09:48:00.000-05:00

To celebrate Christmas…………..

Can you believe it is almost here???? Finley is SOOOOOO excited!

First Baby Present

2011-12-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

I love me some prezzies!

My friend P bought us our first baby present the other day:

And my favorite:

Aren’t they cute?

Best Thing I Ever Ate

2011-12-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

I went to Max Brenner’s for dinner this week and it was so amazing, I just had to tell you all about it.

I wore one of my new Maternity shirts, which showcased my 18 week belly! The next day Scott said he was so proud that I got dressed up. Umm, you mean I actually got dressed and didn’t wear yoga pants…

When you walk into the restaurant, all you smell is chocolate. As my friend P said, “This must be what Willy Wonka’s is like!”

We decided to just get an appetizer and then focus on the important things…DESSERT.

I had the hazelnut crepes with chocolate crunchy wafer balls and caramel ice cream. OH MY GAWD. It was fantastic. I am sad to say I could only eat half of it and then I went into a sugar coma!

If you get the chance, you must visit. But don’t waste your time with real food. Head straight to the dessert menu!

Loves It!

2011-12-16T09:42:00.000-05:00

Please tell me you have seen this….. I die, it is so hysterical!

Bitches Be Shopping

2011-12-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

I have been burning up the old Amex lately and I am ashamed (only slightly) to admit, I am buying EVERYTHING for me. MWAH HA HA HA HA

New Asics Running Shoes

New Converse since my Preggo feet seem to hate ballet flats lately

New acne medicine. I am BEYOND determined to beat my preggo face into submission right now!

Maternity shirts from Motherhood Maternity

New winter coat

I know it is bad to buy stuff for yourself right before the holidays, but sometimes you just NEED some retail therapy!

I Hope This is as Good as it Looks

2011-12-09T16:14:00.001-05:00

This looks pretty good…..

What do you think?

Decorations are Finally Up!

2011-12-07T14:25:00.000-05:00

We spent all weekend decorating our house for Christmas and I have to tell you, I am STILL exhausted.

As you know we bought the tree last Thursday. We were going to put it up on Saturday but then Scott wasn’t feeling that good, so we got the tree in the stand and decided to decorate it on Sunday.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early. We ran over to the Home Depot for some extensions cords and then came home, all excited to decorate…..AND that is where it all went down hill!

11am- Come home from Home Depot with candy and loads of laundry to tackle. Eat enough fig newtons to struggle through my 8 loads of towels, gym clothes, etc.

12- I string lights on the entire tree, while singing Christmas carols. I went to plug the lights in and all BUT ONE strand were dead. Ahhhhhh Scott looks at me and says, “Didn’t you test them first?” I contemplate killing him!

12:30- I rip the crap lights off the tree and huff and puff around the kitchen. Scott offers to go to Target to buy more. I dramatically throw my body on couch and hand him my credit card!

2pm- Scott calls me to tell me that his car battery died on the way home from Target on a really busy road. Some nice guy jumped the battery and he is on his way home now.

2:30- He walks in the front door. The car battery died again and luckily he had enough momentum to roll it into a Firestone dealership (heavenly chorus)

2:45- Cracked out on a huge bag of runts, I put all the new lights on the Christmas tree. Scott helps me put on all the ornaments.

3:00- We notice the tree is listing to the side a little. Turns out the trunk is way too skinny and our stand couldn’t tighten around it. 5 shims and 30 minutes later, the tree seems pretty up right. To be safe, I move all Christmas gifts to another location!

3:30- I eat some mashed potatoes (lovely lunch!) and head outside to work on the deck lights and my inflatables. Nazi husband insists the electrical cords must be tacked down with military precision. I throw cords in the bushes and call it a day.

I know it is tacky looking and I just don’t care. I LOVE IT!!!!!!

4:30- Drag my limp, weary body up the stairs to finish folding laundry. Lay on bed and come crashing down from Runts high!

5:00- Pray for bed time!

It was a truly exhausting day, but so worth it. I love the way the house looks during the holidays. I am always so sad to take everything down in January!

Did you decorate this weekend?

Big News

2011-12-06T14:10:00.003-05:00

We found out what we are having yesterday and………………………

I have to tell you that at first both Scott and I were shocked. We were SO SURE it was a girl. We had a girl’s name picked out and my mom had given us all of my really nice baby clothes, which we washed last weekend.

So now it looks like we are back to the drawing board…… Good thing I didn’t use any pink yarn when I knitted the baby’s blanket!

Fa La La La La It’s Christmastime!!

2011-12-02T09:58:00.001-05:00

Last night, Scott and I drove over the river and through the woods to….HOME DEPOT. Bah ha ha fooled ya. Sorry, it’s Friday, I got about 4 hours of sleep and I am a little punchy!

Anyhoo, we went to the beloved Depot to buy our Christmas tree!!!! (squealllllllll)

After making Scott pull out every god damn Fraser Fur in the joint, shake them and twirl them, we settled on this baby!

Can’t wait to put her up this weekend, especially with my new ornaments.

On top of that, this beauty is going in my front yard:

Ohhhh neighbors, you hate me but you love me!

Cuz I got good taste baby! She is MESHUGANA! (I have been watching A LOT of the Nanny on TV Land lately!)

Did you decorate for Christmas yet?

First Baby Purchases

2011-12-01T12:37:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly, I have been really, really good about not buying anything for the baby. One, we don’t know what we are having yet. Two, I don’t need to be moving more stuff, when this house finally sells. Three, Christmas is a month away and Scott is already having his annual “We spend too much money at the holidays” freak out session. It happens every year and I just ignore it!

But I finally broke down last week and bought two things for the baby. I just couldn’t help myself!

Representing school pride:

We both went to Delaware, my mom went to Delaware, my sister in law went to Delaware, most of my aunts and uncles went to Delaware, almost all my cousins went to Delaware and most of my grandparents… You get the idea! Plus I seriously love our mascot, YouDee!

And I found this last weekend at an antique store in CT and just had to buy it:

My dad re-wired it for us and I am going to touch up the paint this winter. Isn’t it cute? The lamp was $8 and the lamp kit (new wires and bulb holder) was $10. Such a deal!

I think the nursery will end up with a lot of antique nursery rhyme touches but I am really not sure. I do have a HUGE Beatrix Potter obsession as well. Basically I am all over the place! I went through a huge frog phase about 3 weeks ago and I am already over that. I really need to get some direction, but it still seems so far away.

What was the first thing you bought for your baby?

Made My Entire Day Better!

2011-11-30T12:23:00.001-05:00

New Years Day Baby….

The Mob Wives are back!

First Pregnant Run

2011-11-29T15:30:00.001-05:00

You may not remember, because it has been ages since I did a post like this, but this USED to be a running blog. Through some race drama, running club drama, etc. I broke up with running this year. It was an ugly split and very traumatic. Running got the car and I got the dog. So sad….

But now, four months pregnant, running and I are finally back together. I saw my doctor last week and basically told her I would go insane if all I could do was walk for the next five months. She gave me the green light to run again and I was so EXCITED!

There will be no 6+ mile runs and I am confined to a treadmill but I don’t even care. I am just glad to be back to it. It makes me feel so much better

Needless to say, the first run in months was a little rough.

As you preggo ladies and mommies know, when in the early stages of pregnancy, you hate to buy maternity clothes. They are a little too big and it seems like such a waste of money. So I shuffled off to the gym this morning in really tight yoga pants and a sports bra that the girls were trying to escape. Not a pretty picture.

I jumped on the treadmill and immediately felt like this:

And I don’t mean that in a good way. My bubbies were all over the place. Ahhhhh. It was awful.

But I chugged along. I was almost to the end of the first mile and I checked my heart rate. 156! Ahhhh according to doctor, it needs to be under 150, so I started walking. I walked about 1/2 a mile and then started to jog again, but at a slower place. I checked my heart rate again and it was 159. I finished a 1/2 mile and walked again. I did this for another mile and my heart rate didn’t get any lower.

I am a little discouraged now. Is my heart rate high because this is my first run in months? Or is this going to be a constant struggle during the pregnancy? Obviously baby comes first, but I really NEED to be running again, so we have to come to a compromise!

I am not going to give up though. I am going to run again tomorrow and see how it goes. My breathing was fine and I could even sing to myself while I ran. (Very softly though, as I was at the gym and no one needs to have their ears bleed by listening to me!) I think that is a good sign, so maybe I just need to work out the kinks a little!

Did any of you have this problem? What did you do?

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T10:49:00.000-05:00

I hope you have a fantastic holiday!!!

Off to CT

2011-11-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

Looking forward to relaxing and spending some time with my family!

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Making Madeleines- #26 is Done!

2011-11-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

MMMMMMMMMMM they were sooooo good!

This has been something that I wanted to do since I watched Barefoot Contessa make them a couple of years ago. She is obsessed with all things French and I just love to eat. So this is a win win for me!

I bought a Madeleines pan on a whim at a yard sale a couple of years ago and my grandmother sent me a bunch of recipes. But a couple of months ago, Martha Stewart had a basic recipe in her magazine and I knew I just had to try it.

Here is her recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 tsp Coarse salt
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted, plus more, softened, for pans
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.

2. Whisk together eggs and granulated and brown sugars with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 10 minutes.

3. Sift flour mixture over top in 2 additions, folding in after each addition. Fold in melted butter in 2 additions, then honey and vanilla. (Folding these ingredients in will cause the batter to reduce to 1/2 it’s size.)

4. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 2 hours. (Eat some pizza, watch some football, do some laundry, etc)

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let batter stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Generously butter 2 standard-size or 2 mini nonstick or aluminum madeleine pans using a pastry brush. (Side Note- I buttered my pan and the madeleines stuck really bad. I actually think pam would work better.)

6. Transfer batter to a pastry bag, and snip tip to create a 1/2-inch opening. Pipe some batter into molds, filling each about three-quarters full. (Another note- I wouldn’t waste time with a pastry bag. Spooning batter into the molds work just as good and was a lot less messy!)

Don’t over fill the molds. I did in the first batch and I had to scrape each cookie out!

The second batch came out a lot better.

7. Bake on middle rack until pale gold, 8 to 11 minutes (6 to 8 minutes for mini madeleines). Immediately shake madeleines out. Wash and rebutter molds. Repeat with remaining batter. Dust baked madeleines with confectioners' sugar.

Madeleines are more cake than cookie. Right out of the oven, they were amazing! This morning, they were a little stale, so I would eat them right away!

Busy, Busy Bee

2011-11-21T10:28:00.001-05:00

This weekend was a crazy full weekend. I really wanted to relax and do nothing, but I just COULDN’T!

Saturday I got up early and drove into Philly to meet up with some college friends. We try to get together at least once a year, so it was great to see them.

We had brunch at Jones, a Steven Starr restaurant, which means I crossed #6 off my 30 before 30 list! I feel such a sense of accomplishment. Because I did so much….. or ATE so much!

I had pancakes at Brunch. Mmmmmm, they were so good. And sooooo huge!

I was stuffed when we left.

Afterwards we went to the National Liberty Museum. Yeahhhhh, that was a bit of a surprise. Not EXACTLY what I expected. It was really depressing and sad….

I thought it would be about the beginning of our country, maybe a little Liberty Bell (not the real one) and stuff like that. Instead, it was a lot of holocaust, genocide and more sad stuff.

The highlight of that museum (for me) was a White House China exhibit. I loved the Kennedy’s china (can’t seem to find pictures) which had tiny shamrocks all over it. Here is the Lincoln’s china, which the Kennedy’s used as well:

Sorry Lincoln, but not that impressive!

Madison’s was a little funky too. They all had A LOT OF GOLD in them!

We ended our day with a little shopping and I picked up these cute ornaments for my Christmas Tree.

For Me

For Scott

I can’t wait to put up my tree!

Sunday was filled with errands, leaf raking, laundry, cleaning, knitting and baking! Phew, I am exhausted. I did complete #26 on my list also. I made Madeleines and they were DELICIOUS! I will post about that tomorrow.

How was your weekend?

Black Friday

2011-11-19T15:26:00.000-05:00

I am totally not a fan of Black Friday. If I do any shopping, it is online. I WILL NOT go to a store and deal with that crazyness. It is beyond my patience!

But Black Friday does mean some great commercials!

Ohhhhh Biebs, I lurve you!

I seriously love this lady

I can barely look at here without laughing!

Seriously, I can’t get enough of her!

What is your favorite Black Friday commercial?

So Hilarious!

2011-11-18T14:34:00.000-05:00

I just had to share this with all of you!

You will die, she is so funny!

Have a great weekend!

Need Your Opinions Please!!!!!!

2011-11-17T09:17:00.000-05:00

After much thought, I decided to go with a gold signet ring. I just think it is the right fit for me. So here are my choices:

From Bay Rings in England. I would have to have it engraved here. Love the shape of it! About $155 without engraving.

From Etsy. It is an antique baby ring. So I would have to have it stretched, the engraving removed and a new one put on. I am a little nervous about stretching the ring two sizes. I think it will make it very weak but I love the patina of the old gold! $180 before the engraving is removed and mine is added.

From Wandering Creek Jewelry. An antique ring again but this one is actually my size. Would have to have engraving removed and my initials added. I love the shape of this one too and the way the initials are stacked is kind of interesting. Not sure of the price yet.

***Update*** Spoke with Wandering Creek and this ring is no longer for sale. I guess that makes my decision easier!

So what are your thoughts? My husband loves the antique rings the best, but I am slightly discouraged by the amount of work that would need to be done to them. I don’t have a jeweler here I trust completely, so I would be take a risk on their work.

Let me know which you like best!!!!

I also forgot to promise that this would be the last time I obsessed about this to you! I swear!!!

Current Lust Object

2011-11-16T10:09:00.001-05:00

I have been hemming and hawing over this purchase for over a year. I just can’t seem to find the right one, so I never pull the trigger. I have searched the entire internet and I just can’t the perfect one for me….

A signet/monogram ring

I want one bad. It is the perfect classic accessory! As the most intelligent Pauly D had said, instead of Guido Problems, I have preppy girl problems!

My biggest conflict is the gold vs. silver debate.

I wear mostly silver/white gold jewelry. My birthday bracelet from Scott and my wedding rings

and my pearl earrings. I wear them everyday, 365 days a year. So silver or white gold makes the most sense, right?

But I don’t love the silver rings out there. They seem way too big and bulky and I like tiny, delicate jewelry.

It may just be the picture but this ring seems HUGE to me.

Whereas all the gold rings I see, seem to be really delicate and classic. Something you will wear for years!

Both of these rings look like they would be just right….

What do you think? Would you mix metals or stick with silver?

Do you have a signet ring? Where did you get it? I need some serious help here, so I can stop obsessing!

Is She Fat or Is She Preggers?

2011-11-15T12:58:00.001-05:00

Right now I am in that horrible stage where I think most people just think I am plump. I don’t really look pregnant at all. My belly is soft and squishy (yuck) and I feel like a lump. My boobs are huge and I feel like they grow by the day. On top of that, my acne is really bad. Overall, not a pretty picture.

When people mention that pregnancy glow, I definitely think they are lying. I feel pregnancy ugly!

The worst part is that I was taking the changes, the acne, etc in stride until about a week ago. I saw a friend who is almost a month farther along than me and she barely looks pregnant. Next to her I felt huge! I have felt really ugly and gross ever since and it makes me sad.

I am trying really hard to not be so hard on myself. I know that this is my first pregnancy and I have no idea what to expect. I know my body will change and it probably won’t always be pretty. But I still have more than 5 months ahead of me. How much uglier will I feel then?

I did join a gym yesterday. Not that I will be running 10 miles anytime soon but maybe regular workouts will make me feel a little better. I just feel so soft and I am so unsure of what I can do and what I can’t do. I know that my stomach feels soft because I haven’t done an ab workout in over 2 months. And I am sure the oatmeal cookies aren’t helping either.

But my arms should still be toned and so should my legs. I blame myself for being lazy. I actually enjoy working out which is why I was so surprised when I had no urge at all to do anything after I found out I was pregnant. Part of that came from being sooooooo tired but another part of me looked at this pregnancy as a free pass to fatty town! Now that some of my energy is back, it is time to get back on track.

To start, I am going to try and work out 3-4 times a week. I don’t think 6 days a week is necessary right now and I think an increase in working out will make me feel a little human again. This is totally manageable, right?

I am also going to try and control the eating a little better. I don’t think I am eating that bad right now but I know for a fact that it is very rare that a vegetable crosses these lips! I haven’t suck so low that I am eating the McRib every day but bagels have become my new best friend.

Part of that is the cold weather. It makes me want comfort food. But expandable jeans aren’t helping me out either.

Aside from the eating and working out, I think a big secret to pregnancy is accepting change. Ummm, not a huge fan of that. But it also isn’t optional any more. So what is the secret to accepting these changes?

I don’t want to feel bad about myself for the next 5 months. I want to enjoy this pregnancy. So how do I fix this? Most of these changes are outside of my control but I can control my arms, legs (for now) and fingers. Yeah, skinny fingers!!!!! Ha ha ha

Any suggestions for me?????? What did you focus on when you were pregnant?

Tid Bits

2011-11-11T13:24:00.001-05:00

Have you seen this trailer:

I am not a huge Kristen Stewart fan (gasp) but this actually looks good. What do you think?

Have a great weekend!

Falling in Love

2011-11-10T14:15:00.001-05:00

These are some of my faves right now and I thought I would share them with all of you:

My new vest from Lands End. So toasty and warm!

Long sleeve maternity shirts from Old Navy. Still too big in the belly but plenty of room for my muffin top to grow into them!

Ahhh love this! Decaf with just a hint of peppermint flavor.

Kate Spade iPhone case. Love the hot pink sides!

This is my guilty pleasure. I don’t know why, but I seriously love this show! Ahhhhh, these girls cry at the drop of a hat and it is hilarious….

Russian stacking doll stationary- Love these!

That’s what I am in lurve with right now. What are some of your favorite things?

#9 is Done!!!!

2011-11-08T08:50:00.003-05:00

I just checked off number 9 on my 30 before 30 list!! I am so excited to be blogging from my new iPhone (squeal)!

I am in lurve with this phone, so much more than my droid. It is amazing to use and I am downloading apps like the giant loser I am. I already downloaded Tumblr, Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. So basically, I am getting no work done at all. Social media is my downfall!

Do you have an iPhone? What is your favorite apps??

Lack of Exercise

2011-11-02T13:01:00.001-04:00

I have to tell you that the biggest thing I am struggling with during this pregnancy is the lack of exercise. I have worked out 4-6 days a week since I was a Freshman in high school. That is over 15 years of constant workouts.

Then I got pregnant and……NOTHING. Not only do I feel like a blob but I am exhausted and without my usual pep in my step. I think my body is craving exercise!!!

The doctor told me I couldn’t run and the P90x videos were out because they were too high impact. So through the first couple of weeks I walked and I walked and I walked. But now the days are getting shorter and darker and walking is becoming harder.

So I bought this:

Try to control your laughter

It is the InStride Cycle XL and I figured I could at least pedal while working. Not an amazing workout but at least I was doing something, right? Every time I use it, my husband is rolling on the floor laughing.

It is pretty lame but whatever.

Lastly, I actually did this video one day:

Stab me- It was THAT awful. I have never felt like a bigger loser, walking around in my bedroom.

I don’t mind the walking but it can get boring and it is hard for me to force myself out in the dark every day. I am totally fine with only working out 3-4 days a week but I just don’t know what to do anymore. I need to switch it up and I definitely need to do something. I am starting to feel like a load!

Part of my says I should just join a gym again (I quit mine when we started doing p90x at home) so at least I can workout inside. But with us getting ready to move, I don’t want to join a gym near my house when it may not be convenient in a couple of months. I also like working out for free! Free is great!!

On the other hand, I know that when it is icy and cold out this winter, walking outside will be out of the question. I need to have some other options and the mini bike just isn’t going to cut it!

What do you think? What did you ladies do during your pregnancies? I need help!

Cool Video

2011-11-01T13:48:00.000-04:00

I saw this video on the Dishy Decorator’s blog and had to share it with you:

With the snow this past weekend, I think scarf weather is here to stay, so might as well find some new was to tie your scarf.

Which is your favorite?

What a Crazy Couple of Days

2011-10-31T11:22:00.001-04:00

Sorry I haven’t posted in a couple of days. And that is because it has been absolute chaos here!

Scott has 1,876 vacation days every year, so he decided to take a couple of days at the beginning of last week and go to the shore by himself. Cue jealous Alex. On top of that, it is 100% certain that when he goes away, the shit will hit the fan. And it did!

On Wednesday morning, I got a call that the realtor wanted to show our house. Scott was still away and the house was dirty. On top of that I really, really didn’t feel good but I said yes. Because I NEED to sell this house.

Luckily I work from home, so I picked up a little during the day. Around 3, I was feeling really bad, so I decided to lay down for a little bit. As I am laying in bed, I notice something moving on Finley’s leg. IT WAS A FLEA. Ahhhhhhhh

I immediately freak out and call Scott. He is in useless vacation mode and tells me he will deal with it when he gets home. Ummm, not helpful. I call the vet and she proceeds to tell me the 457 things I have to do to get these suckers out of my house.

So I :

Run up to Petco for Frontline
Cry the whole way home and feel sorry for myself
Call my sister and vent
Herd Finley into the kitchen and apply the Frontline
Finish cleaning up the house
Put Finley in car
Drive to friend’s house, fix her sewing machine while peeps look at my house
Come home around 6
Start 15 loads of laundry to wash everything that Finley MIGHT have touched in the last couple of days
Go to bed on wet sheets, absolutely exhausted

I wake up the next morning and Finley is still itching and cover in red patches. So after the hellish Wednesday I had, I now have an OB appointment and I have to take Finley to the vet on Thursday am. On top of that, I still have mountains of laundry to do and I really don’t feel good.

Fast forward to Friday, I spend the day in bed sick with a cold. My dog is finally clean and so is my house! Sigh of relief.

Saturday I woke up feeling great, until I looked out the window. Snow and freezing rain in October, not a fan! We decided to run some errands and visit the Stenton house in Germantown.

The house was really pretty and they had parts of it set up for a spooky Halloween tour. The tour guides definitely wanted to go home because of the horrible weather, but they were nice enough to stay for our tour! The tour was a little rushed but that meant Scott didn’t fall asleep half way through!

When we got home, I just had to put Finley’s Halloween costume on her. How cute is she?

She isn’t happy about it!

But she is an awesome shark.

Are you excited for Halloween?

Selling Your House

2011-10-24T18:34:00.000-04:00

We are almost one month into the process of selling our house and let me tell you, it isn't getting any easier!

We had another showing on Sunday. The couple was here for over an hour and a half, 30 minutes over the appointment time. I thought that was a good sign and was kind of optimistic about it. Then I got the email from our realtor today with the feedback:

Kitchen is small
Needs to be COMPLETELY redone
House is priced too high
Buyers have NO interest
Oh, but the deck is nice....

Ugh, knife in the heart. I know I am trying to sell this house, but I still live here. Even weirder, I take the criticism to heart.

I know the kitchen is small. This isn't Aaron Spelling's home. It is a great starter home and yeah it does need some updating. But lady, no need to kick me when I am down. Please, just buy my house, so I don't have to move 8 months pregnant!

The other weird thing about selling your house is the creepers that come up to your front door. We have had:

A crazy old man bang on the front door and ask the price, then scream it down to his daughter.
A crazy lady bang on the front door for 10 minutes while I ignored her (still in my PJ's here!) and then ask the neighbors about the house.
About 10 drive by photo takers. They WILL circle the block until we go inside, so they can get their shot!
And tonight I had a whole family in my back yard and driveway.

Peeps, this isn't public property. If you are interested, go online or call the realtor. Don't creep in my driveway, when I am home alone and highly susceptible to freaking out!

Yeah, I freak out easily!

Burning Up the Kitchen

2011-10-20T10:30:00.001-04:00

I have had an overwhelming urge to cook lately. Weird, because I don’t really enjoy cooking. It is always a lot of clean up and I am exhausted by the time the food is made. But…..

I was reading the Camille Styles blog and I saw this great recipe for Apple Chips! I love apples, so this is a perfect recipe for me!

Ingredients:

Apples

Parchment Paper

(How easy is that?)

I used a mandoline to slice the apples. You need to make the slices really, really thin and I know I couldn’t do that by hand. I actually ended up making a couple batches because I screwed up the first batch and the best chips came from the thinnest slices!

I also found, for me, small apples worked the best. The large apples didn’t fit in my mandoline and I basically juiced them trying to jam them in the holder.

This is my first attempt. I had some trouble with my mandoline blades (I have a Pampered Chef Mandoline and I found it very hard to figure out the first time I used it) so I tried crinkle cut slices but they were way too thick. In the end, the straight slices are the best.

After you have all your thin apple slices, lay them on a parchment paper lined tray. Make sure they aren’t touching. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees.

Pop the trays in the oven and bake for 2 hours or till the edges are crisp. After multiple attempts, these slices crisped up the best after 3 hours in the oven. My oven runs hot, so yours may take longer.

When the apples are done, let them cool and they will crisp up all the way.

Here are some of the finished products. My second revelation about these chips is that you should really core the apples before you slice them. The seed slots are razor sharp after cooking and I had to eat around them in most of the chips. No bueno!

Feeling the Love

2011-10-19T10:41:00.001-04:00

First I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all your kind comments and tweets. I am beyond, beyond excited to finally be pregnant and it is so great that everyone is so happy for us! I feel the love!!

To answer some of your questions:

I am due May 7th or May 14th, conflicting dates with doctors

I feel great. I have had no morning sickness at all.

I am exhausted. I go to bed about 8:30 almost every night. I am THAT awesome.

I am starving all the time. I eat EVERYTHING in my path.

My only gripe, I have total pizza face right now and can’t use harsh acne meds. It is so bad but I can suffer through that for a baby!

So let’s talk business now:

I am OBSESSING about one thing and one thing only…..the Diaper Bag (dum dum dum)

I HATE HATE HATE most of the bags I see. They are Fug, with a capital F. After thinking/fretting about this for awhile, I am considering just buying myself a nice tote bag and using that as a diaper bag.

I mean, no one wants to carry a bag with baby bears all over it, am I right??

Here are some of the ones I am considering:

J. Crew Newsstand Tote

A classic- the Longchamp Le Pliage Tote in Black

Kate Spade Harmony Baby Bag

Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM in the Damier Ebene Leather. Sighhhhhhhhhhhh

This Tory Burch tote is nice and basic, plus the opening looks nice and wide. Easy to grab baby stuff…or candy!

No matter which one I pick, I def think a Lands End Boat Tote is a must have too. So easy to clean and still so preppy! Plus I can have it monogrammed. I am a nerd, I know that!

Not sure which one I will pick yet. If you have any suggestions, let me know. I obviously have plenty of time to make my decision!

Big News

2011-10-17T15:43:00.001-04:00

It has been beyond painful to keep a secret for this long. I have big, big, big news and I have been dying to share it with all of you…….

I AM PREGNANT!!!!!

Yeahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So excited and beyond thrilled that it finally happened. I actually took the first test and didn’t believe that I could actually be pregnant….So I took 6 more! So OCD of me!!

It has been so hard to keep my mouth shut and you can probably tell by my lack of posts lately. It is all I want to talk about So I am so glad to finally be able to share this with you.

Off to the Shore

2011-10-14T13:22:00.000-04:00

We are off to the shore for the weekend.

Hope you have a great weekend too!

My YouTube Obsession

2011-10-13T13:30:00.001-04:00

I am 110% obsessed with Pixiwoo and their YouTube videos! Pixiwoo is two British woman, Sam and Nicola, who do make up tutorial videos. I LURVE them!

1. I seriously love their accents.

2. They are too cute.

3. They break down every step of the make up routine and tell you exactly what they use.

4. Even I can follow their instructions.

5. Hence, I love them…..

Aren’t they the best????

I Think She is Insane!

2011-10-11T12:26:00.001-04:00

Woman Gives Birth After Completing Chicago Marathon

Posted in Hipsqueak blog by Liz Plosser

In our current issue of TOCK, we talked to local moms who are running faster than ever—even setting marathon personal records—since having children. Impressive. But you know what’s even more impressive? Running a marathon while pregnant. While very, very, very pregnant.

That jaw-dropping feat belongs to Westchester resident Amber Miller. She ran/walked yesterday’s Chicago Marathon at 39 weeks.

The 27-year-old mom to Caleb, 19 months, found out she was pregnant exactly two days after signing up for the marathon. She continued to run throughout her pregnancy, and, with her doctor’s blessing, decided to go ahead and run the marathon yesterday.

Her husband, Joe, would be running his first marathon by her side and she planned to drop out halfway through. But she “felt so good,” she just kept running/walking, finishing the 26.2 miles in six hours twenty-five minutes and 50 seconds. (That’s an average pace of 14 minutes and 45 seconds per mile—or a speedy walking clip for most of us.)

In interviews this morning, Amber revealed that she felt contractions during the race but wasn't alarmed by them. She also got a lot of feedback from spectators as she tackled the course—nearly all of it positive. Most folks yelled things like, “Way to go, Mama!” and “I can’t run a marathon and I’m not nine months pregnant, you go girl!” (We’d guess there were a lot of dropped jaws as she ran by, too.)

Baby June Audra Miller was born at 10:39pm. She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and she’s 21 inches long.

Mom, dad and big brother Caleb are all doing well and bonding with the newest addition to the phenomenally fit Miller family. (Behind the scenes, at this morning's press conference at Central DuPage Hospital, Joe asked if there was a healthier snack on-hand for little Caleb when a hospital employee offered him a cookie.)

“I can’t wait to get back to training,” Amber said today.

Can you imagine?

My New Obsession

2011-10-05T12:59:00.001-04:00

I know I am beyond late to this trend, but I am 100% obsessed with…..

I stayed up most of last night playing multiple games. It is crazy addicting!

Sometimes I have brilliant moments where I spell out 51 point words and then I have moments where I have nothing but a couple I’s, one e and one s and I make a word already on the board plural. Awesome! Two points to that genius.

Do you guys play? My user name is atownsend0824, if you are dying to witness my genius!

Bits and Pieces

2011-09-30T09:15:00.001-04:00

I am seriously in love, love, love with this song

I am BEYOND thrilled that Happy Endings is back on the air. I seriously love this show.

It’s Ahhhh-Maaaaaa-Zingggggggg

Plus Modern Family is back on the air! Yeah for Fall TV!!!!!!!

Now that our house is on the market, I have to do some yard work this weekend. I need to spruce up the porch and yard, doing some weeding, etc.

Basically take it from this:

To this:

Ha ha, not really

Last but not least….

How ahhhh-maaaaaa-zingggggg are my Phillies?

What do you have planned for this weekend?

Time to Move On!

2011-09-29T13:04:00.001-04:00

Sorry to be so MIA lately. I know my posts are a little half ass but we have so much going on and it is making me a little crazy!!!

It is finally official! My house is on the market and we are going to be moving……AHHHHHHHH

The thought of packing is so awful, I can’t think about it yet. Instead, I am going to fret about the fact that I don’t have a house to move into yet. Because that is a much bigger problem!

If I don’t find a house in time, can I live with one of you????

Exhausted Much?

2011-09-26T09:45:00.001-04:00

This is how my day started yesterday…..

Woke up at 3am
Realized husband left TV on, turned it off
Laid in bed for an hour, counted 1,465,987 sheep and tried to fall back asleep.
Got up and went downstairs
Made coffee
Finished book on couch
Decided to bake cupcakes for friend’s baby shower
Wrecked first batch by mixing wrong ingredients
Started second batch (now 5:30 am)
Wash 345 dirty dishes in sink
Half way through oven time, decided to turn trays so they cooked evenly
Burn hand while turning trays
This causes me to spill the batter all over the oven.
Finally get trays back in oven
Turn around and realize both fish died overnight
Sit down on kitchen floor and cry
Get up, calm myself down, dry off face
Put third tray of cupcakes in oven and try to salvage first two batches.
Clean up kitchen
Ignoring dead fish (can’t deal with it right now)
Sit down in kitchen to die icing, wreck white shirt with red food coloring
Scott comes down at 7am, start to tell him about bad morning, many more tears
Cupcakes cooling on counter
Taps played at Fish Funeral (sniff sniff)
Dismantling of tank with many gallons of water is very messy and wet
Try to eat breakfast and not think of dead fish
Get cleaned up for baby shower
Try on 4,578 outfits, nothing fits or looks good
Realize I have 10 minutes to get dressed, do hair and make up
Finally race out door to shower

I am so incredibly exhausted today. Seriously need to go back to bed.

Don’t you hate when you wake up early and can’t go back to sleep?

Thank God It’s Friday

2011-09-23T16:15:00.001-04:00

I am so thrilled this week is over!!!

What are you doing this weekend?

Target, I Love You

2011-09-22T14:13:00.001-04:00

No I didn’t buy any of the Missoni Collection. I would have to kill someone to get that stuff!

Instead I bought these goodies:

You can never have enough ballet flats

Makes me feel a little like a librarian (What do you think Princess Freckles??)

I love, love, love the elbow patches on this blazer

I could have bought a ton of other stuff but I only had a little bit of time, so I had to be fast! Isn’t Target the best? I love that in 20 minutes I bought clothes, shoes, wrapping paper, make up and candy bars. Everything that is wonderful, right?

What do you think?

Baby Showers

2011-09-21T09:38:00.000-04:00

My friend L is preggers with her first baby and we are throwing her a baby shower on Sunday. If you belong to my school of thought, then you know that NO party is complete with….CUPCAKES!

I, of course, offered to make them. To some this may seem like extra work.

To me this means:

-Licking the bowl

-Eating a lot of frosting

-Disposing (devouring) any damaged cupcakes before the party

Cupcakes are the easiest thing to make even if they are a bitch to take places. My go to recipe is from Magnolia Bakery:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.

Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. (Batter is very wet)

Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

When these cupcakes come out they are moist and delicious! You can make buttercream from scratch to ice them, but I am lazy and I generally use Duncan Hines or Pillsbury frosting. Yum!

Now L doesn’t know what she is having, so I decided to ice the cupcakes in blue and pink. I also bought these cute toppers online to finish the cupcakes off.

I bought them in pink and blue! Aren’t they cute?

What a Fantastic Weekend!!!!!

2011-09-20T08:26:00.000-04:00

This girl is seriously exhausted after the fab weekend I had.

Saturday morning, Scott and I went to Longwood Gardens again. I had a Groupon about to expire and we got in for $9/ea

He LOVES to have his picture taken!

Tree House

Italian Water Gardens

DuPont House

Conservatory

Lily Pad Gardens

Isn’t it gorgeous here? It was kind of chilly and brisk but the grounds were so lovely. I really enjoyed myself. I am also counting this as one of the 5 museums I need to see this year on my 30 before 30 list!

After we went to Ruby’s Diner for lunch. Our waitress was seriously cracked out of her mind. She fell asleep at the computer twice when she put in our order. I was obsessing about it all through lunch and Scott finally asked me to be quiet! Ha ha ha I secretly wanted to say something to the manager but Scott dragged me out of the restaurant.

Sunday was gorgeous and I definitely didn’t want to be inside all day. We were supposed to go to the Aquarium but our plans fell through so we drove up to Valley Forge instead! This crosses number 28 off of my list!

Valley Forge is a National Park right by the King of Prussia mall. There is a fantastic (but hilly) 5 mile loop around the park. Perfect for a jog or a walk with Finley!

Hard to believe there is such wide open spaces here and the biggest mall in our area is right down the road

Soldier’s cabins- 12 of them slept in there!!!!

Memorial Arch

It was a great day, that capped off a great weekend! I was thoroughly exhausted by Sunday night and so ready for bed!

What did you do this weekend?

Pet Peeve

2011-09-14T14:42:00.001-04:00

Allow me to rant about this for a moment please.

1. I like Natalie Portman. She is super skinny and super pretty so I want to hate her, but I don’t!

2. She just had a sweet baby boy

3. I understand she is trying to lose the baby weight and maybe she doesn’t always feel so pretty

BUT WTF IS WITH THE WINTER JACKET ALL THE TIME!!!!!! Why does no one else notice this?????

September

August

May

None of these months require a winter coat!!! She lives in NYC not Siberia. I am sorry but this makes me insane.

Anyone else with me on this???

Busy, Busy Bee

2011-09-13T15:49:00.001-04:00

Things are so busy right now. Work is insane and my mom is away, so I am doing two people’s work! We are actively house hunting and basically falling in love with every house we see. We have to get our house on the market and I think I will seriously need to empty out some of the rooms in our house, so it can sell! Ahhhhhh

Because of all that, I am a bad, bad blogger…..

All I have to share with you in my obsession with this song!

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Adele

I can’t stop playing it. Don’t you love it?

We Will Never Forget

2011-09-11T15:07:00.000-04:00

Totes Cray Cray

2011-09-08T10:21:00.001-04:00

Things have been a little crazy over here. Crazy good, not crazy bad.

I went to LBI last weekend (sniff sniff) for the last beach weekend (sniff) of the year. Waaaaaahhhhhhhh. So sad! For the first time in years, it was just me and my parents. Scott couldn’t come because of work, my grandparents are still in Florida, etc. It was kind of nice (shhh don’t tell).

I decided to stay until Tuesday morning to avoid all the traffic. It was pouring on my way home and we lost power at our house. So no working (bonus) but no TV to watch (no bonus).

I feel like I have been trying to play catch up all week!

Part of the reason I may be catching up is because I have been shopping… Come on baby, Mama needs a new pair of shoes!

New “A” coffee mug for Fall- Anthropologie

Light weight quilted coat- Target

These earrings are so delicate. I love them!- Etsy

Nine West ballet flats- T.J. Maxx

New Balance Toning Sneakers. I am sure it is all hype but at $30 I just had to try them- T.J. Maxx

I am always so so so sad to see Summer go because I love going to the beach and spending time with my family. But Fall is really nice too. It reminds me of Connecticut with apple picking and the leaves changing colors. I love breaking out my vests and scarves.

But the best part of fall….

CANDY CORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is your favorite part of fall?

30 Before 30

2011-09-01T11:32:00.000-04:00

Drumroll please…. I have finally come up with my list!!!!

Eat at the Waterworks
Run a 5k with my dad
Finish another sewing project
Get pregnant (fingers, toes, hair, eyes, etc crossed)
Visit Strawberry Mansion
Eat at two more Steven Starr Restaurants
Make a Ricotta Pie for Easter
Visit at least five museums
Get an iphone
Watch 12 classic movies, one for every month
Buy a new house
Buy a King size bed and finally get a good night’s sleep
Learn CPR
Finish knitting the baby blanket
Take covered bridges tour in Bucks County
Go see a movie by myself
Have a blogger meet up (Philly peeps, who is interested?)
Day trip to Princeton
Read the newspaper every day for a month
Try stand up paddle boarding
Find the perfect shade of lipstick
Visit the Adventure Aquarium in Camden
Plan a family vacation
Type up my grandfather’s life notes (he recorded them before he passed away)
Take more horse back riding lessons
Make madeleine from scratch
Perfect my make up routine
Visit one of PA’s state parks
Go to one of Philadelphia’s street festivals
Read 5 books that I am not embarrassed to tell people I read

Face Crisis

2011-08-31T11:02:00.000-04:00

Ever since I went off birth control last fall, I have had total pizza face. I feel like I am constantly walking around, looking like a nervous, 13 year old boy and it is really frustrating.

Finally this spring, I found out that I have PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Symptoms of PCOS are unexpected weight gain, acne, infertility, etc. So when the birth control was finally out of my system, all of these symptoms started popping up.

Unfortunately, the acne is really hard to control and most of it is effected by diet. Every time I am stressed and I house another bag of M & Ms, I usually end up with a couple of new zits. Not really but if I have a couple of weeks of eating bad, my skin starts to look awful!

I have tried about every face wash out there and none of them are working. To give you an idea, my bathroom is like a mini CVS.

Yes, I have tried all of these and none of them are making my skin any better. I have also been to my dermatologist for a prescription but that isn’t really helping either.

So I turn to all of you…. Have any of you tried a acne system, like Proactiv or Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Control Kit?

I am really tired of wasting money on products that don’t work! So please give me some advice!

Off the Grid….

2011-08-30T10:45:00.001-04:00

It has been a seriously crazy couple of days!

First we had the Earthquake last week. I have lived on the East Coast my entire life and never experienced anything like that. Obviously it was just a quick tremor in Philly, but it was still CRAZY!

Then Irene came up the coast and wrecked my weekend. Stupid Beyotch!

I had to drive over to the shore Thursday night to get the beach house hurricane ready. It was so creepy there! Nobody on the island in the middle of August!!!!

This is a horrible picture, but the lights on the left hand side are all the cars coming off the island and over the hood of my car, you can see about two cars going on!

I taped the windows, took in the patio furniture, turned off the water, etc before the mandatory evacuation on Friday am. I was a little creeped out on Thursday night, so I didn’t sleep at all!

Deck furniture in the kitchen

Empty, dark houses all up our street

By Friday night, I was a total zombie from lack of sleep!

We did the whole grocery store, home depot, get gas, get money, etc to be prepared for the storm on Friday. We put all our deck furniture and potted plants in the garage, charged our electronics and prayed that we didn’t end up with a ton of water in our basement!

Scott (or as I like to call him, Al Roker) is a budding weather man, so he was on full alert all weekend. The weather channel was on the tv all weekend (kill me) and he barely slept! He was running solely on Red Bulls by Sunday night.

We weathered the storm fine but lost power on Sunday night. We just got it back this morning! Which is fantastic because I think we used up the last of the hot water last night!

My parents in CT were really lucky. They lost power but this happened only a couple blocks from their house.

Can you imagine?

I am exhausted and we are putting the house back together slowly. We are headed to the shore this weekend and hopefully the beach house will be ok too!

On top of all this, I had to drive my three week old Ford Explorer back to the dealership yesterday morning for it’s second repair appointment. Ahhhhh

We decided to buy the Ford Explorer after having a really bad experience at the Volvo and Chevy dealerships.

I was totally set on buying a Tahoe a couple of weeks ago. Then when we came down to signing the papers, the salesman screwed us a little on the price and I was really pissed! I decided they seemed a little shady and I didn’t want to do business with them.

Then we went to the Volvo dealership and I loved the XC90 but the salesman couldn’t answer a single question without asking his manager. Plus they could only offer me a red 2011 which I really didn’t want. He was kind of shoving the red car down my throat and Scott was really annoyed, so we decided against the Volvo.

We then went to the Ford dealership and the salesman was a DREAM! He was fantastic to work with, able to answer all my questions, etc. I really like the new explorers and frankly I just wanted to be done with all the car shopping!

We bought this Explorer about three weeks ago. I really like the car but we have been having TONS of problems with the MyTouch software.

The whole car (climate, radio, navigation, etc) is run off a touch screen and the touch screen FREEZES CONSTANTLY! We took it back in last Monday and they said they fixed it. But when I got in the car on Friday morning, the screen froze again. WITH THE RADIO ON LOUD, STUCK ON A STATIC CHANNEL. I almost went insane on the drive home!

I drove it back up to the dealership yesterday and hopefully it will be fixed this time. This is the first new car I have ever bought and I am really disappointed at how shitty the whole experience has been. I am really missing my Land Rover right now!

It’s a New Year!

2011-08-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

As you can see the 29 before 29 list wasn’t a huge success:

Learn how to make Macarons with this cookbook
Finish knitting the baby blanket I started (not necessarily for me)
Visit Ohio (don’t ask)
~~Tour Strawberry Mansion in Fairmount Park.~~
Run a 5k with my dad
Eat a meal at the Water Works restaurant
~~Visit Franklin Square~~
~~Sew the purse that I bought a pattern for last year~~
Bike through Tyler State Park
~~Have a successful yard sale~~
Take the Chocolate tour in Philadelphia
Visit the Mercer Museum
~~Spend a whole day at a spa~~
~~Visit 2 more Steven Starr Restaurants (I have been to 4 out of the 16)~~

Square Burger

Do a day trip with my sister, just the two of us.
Run another 5k with Scott
Bike from Holgate to Barnegat Light on LBI
~~Go to Produce Junction.~~
Read Jane Eyre
~~Try needlepoint~~
Plan a vacation, even a mini one, for just Scott and I
~~Try skateboarding~~
Get over 250 followers on my blog
Take the covered bridges tour in Bucks County
Have at least one blogger meet up

I never even finished the stupid list!!!!! Let alone checked things off.

But it’s a new year, so new goals and a new list. I am working diligently on my 30 before 30 list.

Any suggestions for me??????

No Words Needed!

2011-08-25T13:38:00.000-04:00

BEST BIRTHDAY CARD EVER

Pre Birthday Celebrations

2011-08-23T13:35:00.001-04:00

My parents came to Philly this weekend and we had a little pre birthday celebration for me. I was also able to weasel some gifts out of my family members!!!

Scott gave me this antique door stop that I have been in LOVE with for months!

My parents gave me this ice cream maker

And this amazing Bodum Travel Press Set. I LURVE it! It is a travel coffee mug with a French press lid. Yeah, coffee all the time!!!! Yeah, too much caffeine!!!

Plus Scott and my parents gave me amazon gift cards, so I have been up to my eyeballs in books! Yeahhhhhhhh

My in-laws gave me some cute stuff from Vineyard Vines

And to top it all off there was CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been on a raging sugar high since Saturday. I am probably going to crash soon……

Hilarious!

2011-08-20T09:35:00.000-04:00

Totally made my day:

Love Anne Hathaway!

Using My Powers for Good vs. Evil

2011-08-19T09:18:00.001-04:00

You know that feeling. You are so angry. Your head starts to pulse. You literally want to lash out at the first person who MISTAKENLY looks your way!

That is what I felt like yesterday.

The day started great and then I went to the doctor. He INSENSITIVELY told me that he didn’t think this month was progressing as it should and I should just scrap this month. Ummmmmm NOOOOO! First, you overpaid ass, I will not SCRAP this month. I have not spent a year of my life dedicated to being poked, prodded, told I am overweight, told I work out too much, told I drink too much to just give up. Second, I don’t give up. I will push on because that is just what I do!

I left the doctor’s office really sad and slowly that sadness turned to anger. As the day went on, everyone was pissing me off. Coworkers, customers, etc. Everyone’s stupidity just made the anger pulse bigger and brighter. By the end of the day, I literally thought my head was going to explode.

Scott came home and made the mistake of saying hi (soooo rude) and I lost it. I calmly stated that I wasn’t made at him, I am just BEYOND tired of this situation. I am tired of being forced into this roller coaster of emotions each month. I am tired of my life revolving around something that I am failing at. I hate feeling bad about myself when this is literally out of my control. After venting for about twenty minutes, I stated that I just needed to be left alone.

And then I started to clean…..

Kind of like this, except Scott looked scared and I looked angry.

I vacuumed, dusted, mopped, etc.

I scrubbed the stairs by hand.

I cleaned the fish tank.

I did laundry.

And that still wasn’t enough. So I did a 45 minute P90x cardio video. The sweat was pouring off me when I finished. Finally I was starting to come down off of my anger high. But I still wasn’t done.

After the video I went into the basement and proceeded to vacuum and mop the entire basement. I swept, cleaned shelves, rearranged boxes and organized until I finally collapsed.

I literally burned the anger right out of my system. By the time I showered and had dinner, I felt completely normal again. My stress headache (that I have had for months) disappeared. I felt calm and I felt happy. SUCCESS!

I used my anger to accomplish something. I felt fantastic about that. I didn’t scream or yell and Scott and I didn’t get into a fight because of how I felt. Amazeballs.

How do you get rid of your anger?

Blog Anniversary!!!!

2011-08-17T09:08:00.001-04:00

Today is my four year anniversary writing this blog! So much has happened in the last four years and it has been beyond fantastic to share it with all of you!!!!

Just to refresh:

My first blog post EVER (yes, it was riveting!)

I got married

Ran the Marine Corp Marathon

Moved to Pennsylvania and bought my first house. Moved in over three days.

Saw the Phillies win the World Series!!!!!!!!!

Ran the New York City Marathon

Biked the Five Boro Bike Tour with my dad

Saw Bruce Springsteen at the old Giants Stadium

Finally ran the Broad Street Run

Ran the Fairfield 1/2 Marathon with one of my oldest friend’s M

My SIL B got married

Went to London with my Mom

It has been an amazing four years and I can’t wait to see what the next four bring me!

Birthday Time

2011-08-15T09:48:00.001-04:00

My birthday is exactly a week and a half away (squeal…) As an almost adult (you don’t become one until you are 30), I always feel awful when peeps ask what I want for my birthday. I don’t feel awful about gifts. Don’t get me wrong. I love them and I want TONS of them.

I just feel awful because:

a. I don’t need anything

b. I am not a child, so no one really NEEDS to buy me gifts (except Scott)

c. We have so much and I never can use everything we have. So getting more goodies seems wasteful

Now that all that foolishness is out of me, let me tell you what I would die to have….

Louis Vuitton Neverfull

Tiffany’s Diamonds by the Yard Bracelet

A long pearl necklace, like 30 to 36 inches. I have a short one and I always feel like a Stepford Wife when I wear it!

My mom and I found this on Amazon yesterday. It is a Hamilton Beach soft ice cream maker. It is so cute!

That being said, it is nice to want! We just bought a new car (sniff sniff)

Bye Land Rover, you will be missed

and we are about to buy a new house!

So I told Scott to go light on the birthday pressies this year. I had to be an adult about it and we need to spend money on important things….LIKE A ROOF OVER OUR HEADS!!!!

Don’t you hate when you have to be an adult?

Friday Nuggets

2011-08-12T13:07:00.001-04:00

I have absolutely nothing to share today. (shocking)

I am so exhausted. This was a seriously rough week and thank sweet baby Jesus, it is finally over! I feel like I haven’t slept in days and I am so thrilled that the weekend is here!

I saw this commercial this morning and I laughed so hard, I just had to share it with you!

Hope this makes you smile! Happy Friday, my friends!

Crazy Full Weekend

2011-08-08T12:30:00.001-04:00

This weekend was one of the first weekends in awhile that we stayed home. And I have to be honest, it was kind of nice! Not that I relaxed……at all.

I took Finley to a new groomer on Friday and now she is bald. It isn’t horrible because she now has no hair to shed. But she looks so skinny now. I feel like I have been starving her. Scott keeps calling her Naked Dog!

Saturday greeted me with my check engine light coming on for the 3rd time in two months. (Awesome) It is with much regret that I have to say that the Land Rover is going away! I have had that car for 7 years and I just love it. (sniff sniff)

So we went car shopping on Saturday afternoon. After getting over some serious sticker shock, I am considering the Tahoe. This will be my 5th car but my first new car ever! I have always had used cars, that someone else picked out. So this is kind of exciting!!!!!!!!!

I love love love big cars and I just loved the Tahoe! I haven’t fully made up my mind yet but I am def leaning towards this.

Sunday I decided to play Susie Homemaker. So I cleaned the house, did some gardening and made tomato sauce. Yum!

Tomatoes from my garden

I chopped them up and simmered them on low with olive oil, garlic and oregano for about 2 hours. Then I put it through the food processor to smooth it out and heated it back up. So much easier than peeling and seeding all the tomatoes.

Served over Rotelle it made a yummy dinner!

In honor of a great weekend, I wore my new favorite shirt. Who doesn’t love the yellow M&M??????

How was your weekend?

Random Bits of Goodness

2011-08-05T10:39:00.001-04:00

First order of business….

I want to say thanks for all of your support and kind words. Obviously the last couple of months have not been easy but I know it will all work itself out one day. It is just going to take time and I have to keep pushing forward. In the end, it will have been totally worth it!

Second…..

This video 110% explains why I am in lurve with Anderson Cooper aka the Silver Fox!!!!!

Third…..

If you are looking for a movie to watch right now, you must, must must rent Soul Surfer.

This movie was amazeballs! It was sooooo good. I am not a very religious person but her faith was amazing to watch! I seriously don’t know that I could get back in the water after a shark attack, let alone surf with one arm. Def tearjerker though. Have your tissues ready!!!

Fourth……

I am insanely happy that today is Friday. I am really, really glad this week is over. I have a ton of stuff to do around my house, including collecting all of the hair that Finley loves to deposit all over the place! Doesn’t that sound like the most exciting weekend ever? I can barely control my excitement!

That is the way my mind works. Nothing I can do about it!

What are you doing this weekend?

TMI???

2011-08-03T09:53:00.000-04:00

I never know when I post about the whole baby making process if I am giving out too much information. Everyone says you shouldn’t talk about the whole process of getting pregnant. That it is private or that you might jinx yourself.

But then I think of how many bumps we have had in the road and how much I have had to learn this past year. I wish someone had told me a lot of this stuff ahead of the time, so I figure that is why I share it with all of you. Maybe it helps or maybe it makes you want to gouge your eyes out. Not really sure…..

So here is my update:

Last month I went back to my WONDERFUL fertility doctor at Main Line Fertility. They did some checking around, took some blood work and found out that I have acidic mucus. Not in my nose if you get what I mean….

***gross part*** If you have too much acidity in your mucus it kills the sperm before it ever gets to your eggs. Thus I have dubbed it KILLER MUCUS. I am cursed with KILLER MUCUS! (Use a lot of drama when you image me saying that!)

So the doctor comes back to me and tells me that I have to have an artificial insemination. Not an IUI because there is no egg implantation. They just inject the sperm (ewwwww) into me like a cow or a horse. AWESOME

This is the medical thingy I had done two weeks ago.

I won’t lie to you and tell you that it was the most awesome thing I have ever done. It was uncomfortable, there was some spotting and it was very nerve wrecking. On top of that I felt huge pressure after it was done to not wreck this chance.

So I barely worked out, just taking walks, etc. No drinking, I ate really well. I treated the last two weeks like I was pregnant. All while secretly hoping that I was.

Well, I am not. I am really sad to have to share that with all of you. It literally broke my heart on Monday when I took the test. I felt like such a failure. I mean, all I did was lie there. The doctor did all the work. And still it didn’t work out.

This whole process has been a total mind fuck. I am NOT kidding. It has had a lot of ups and downs but I am trying to stay positive. I gave myself Monday to lie around and cry and eat candy but that is over now. I am looking forward because this is a new month. I have to think that way or I will go insane. (More insane than I already am!)

From the bottom of my very shallow heart, I wish that none of you ever have to go through this. Trust me, this is very mild when it comes to infertility. I haven’t had to do shots, etc. But it still upsets you and screws with your head. It still breaks your heart to tell your husband it didn’t work out, when you were so so so hopeful it would.

So I apologize if I have grossed anyone out or been a Debbie Downer but sometimes I just have to get things off my chest. So I punish you all and make you read it!!! Mwah ha ha ha

Alex’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2011-08-02T10:10:00.001-04:00

Yesterday sucked! I had an epic disappointment and received some bad news that I had been dreading. I had a bad feeling all day Sunday and I should have known the news wouldn’t be good, but I was trying sooooooo hard to be optimistic!

When you get bad news, it is really hard to try and see the brightside to everything. Nobody wants to be a Debbie Downer but sometimes you need a moment to pull the covers over your head and just cry.

After I got the news, I was horribly depressed. Just so so so sad. Then I turned to my instant pick me up….

I have decided that I like you all enough to share my secret formula. But if you tell anyone, I will have to kill you! I kid, I kid….Or do I???????

The Secret Formula (drumroll)

Peanut Butter M & Ms are the first step to the super, secret formula!

In a pinch, you can substitute with Pretzel M & Ms, but nothing else will do!

With this you will need a little bit a substanance to keep your strength up for all the crying. I recommend carbs and lots of them.

I chose some delicious Macaroni and Cheese yesterday!

With the food, you need something to drink.

White wine is my first choice. But sometimes liquor just means even more crying! In that case, turn to a nice pick me up like delicious Diet Coke. It burns sooooo good!

While crying and laying around being pathetic, you need to be comfortable. A nice pair of pajamas is definitely what the doctor recommended!

Nick and Nora PJs from Target are just the thing. I mean you don’t want to look TOO GOOD.

Last, you need something to take your mind off your problems. There is only one thing that will work.

REAL HOUSEWIVES

They are sooooo crazy that it makes all your problems seem so small!

This is my secret formula. Go forth and use it my little grasshoppers!

What makes you feel better when you are sad?

New Favorite Purchases

2011-07-29T10:32:00.001-04:00

I am totally in love with Zoe B earrings. I recently found a pair on Overstock and quickly purchased them.

The picture is awful but they are Citrine stones. I love how simple and shiny they are. Oh and the $50 price tag didn’t hurt either!

I got so many complements on those earrings that I decided to order two more pairs. Above are the Blue Chalcedony earrings, only $36.

These are the Smokey Quartz earrings, $48, which I am wearing today!

The best part is Overstock shipping is $2.95 for the whole order, so if I hate them, I just send them back!

I totally want to order every other pair they have online but I though that might be overkill……OR WOULD IT BE????

What are your favorite earrings?

Ellie Goulding

2011-07-27T12:41:00.001-04:00

Let me start this post by making the shameful confession that my last concert was 98 degrees. Yes, I said 98 degrees. Opening for them was Jessica Simpson. I have not been to a concert since the dark ages!

Last night, I took/dragged Scott to see Ellie Goulding at the Electric Factory in Philly. I lurve Ellie so I was really excited to hear her play live!

A group called the Bag Raiders opened for her. One word…..AWFUL! My poor ears were bleeding! Maybe they just suck live or maybe they just suck……

They played for about a half hour. I wisely used that time for some awesome people watching. First, I think Scott and I were some of the oldest people there. Two, it was a total teen fest. I mean, I was up to my eyeballs in 13 year old girls! Three, the upper level of the club is a bar and it was totally filled with parents. I mean how else were all these teenage girls going to get home!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh I felt so old!

Finally Ellie came out and she was amazeballs!

Sorry for the sucky cell phone photos

She sounded just as good live and I really enjoyed myself. Scott patiently prayed for the night to be over!

Her arms were jacked. Maybe I should take up drumming too!

New Favorite Song

Have you been to a concert lately? Did you feel old too?

Ellie Goulding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-26T16:08:00.000-04:00

I am going to see Ellie Goulding tonight at the Electric Factory. I am BEYOND excited!

I love her!

Will and Kate’s wedding song. Don’t you love how I talk about them like I know them?????

My husband is slightly dreading this because he is NOT a concert person. Plus I have a bad feeling (Hey Facebook) that this is going to be a bit of a teenie fest! Oh well……

What was the last concert you went to?

Off To CT

2011-07-22T16:00:00.000-04:00

I am off to Connecticut this weekend. It is one of my favorite weekends of the year…..THE PEQUOT LIBRARY BOOK SALE.

My nerd status just became official. I am excited about books!

The books are crazy cheap and I buy enough to last me a couple of months! As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.”

What are you doing this weekend?

Amazeballs

2011-07-21T12:01:00.001-04:00

I saw this on Perez Hilton and I just had to share it with you!

Part 1

Part 2
Love J.T. Don’t you????

****Update****
The second video isn't working, but you can view it here

Oh Happy Day!!!

2011-07-20T08:23:00.001-04:00

Get More: Jersey Shore, MTV Shows, Jersey Shore (Season 3), MTV Shows

I am going to fuckin fist pump till my fuckin arm falls off!

I seriously love the Jersey Shore and I am sooooo excited to watch it again.

Do you love the Jersey Shore?

Little Lovelies

2011-07-18T14:26:00.001-04:00

I had to have a “medical thingy” done to me this weekend, so I spent the majority of the weekend laying around resting. I am totally fine but I felt rest was in order after it was done. Another way to phrase that would be to say I was looking for a reason to be lazy!!

I laid in bed and read until I gave myself a headache. Then I went through my DVR and cleaned it up a little.

I watched Easy A which was hilarious! I should preface this by saying that I love “teenage angst” movies and this was a great one. It just reinforces why I am SOOOO glad that I am not in high school any longer.

This was one of the songs from the movie and I lurve it!

Enjoying being a lazy bum meant no getting dressed all weekend, so I wore this

with gym shorts or my husband’s boxer shorts. Yeah, it was a REALLY lazy weekend.

I gave myself a manicure with some new Essie polish I picked up

It is called Tart Deco and I also lurve it!

To make my poor body feel better, I also drank 4,789,948 Wawa Iced Coffees. MMMMMM So delicious!

Wawa and I are in a totally committed relationship! We got married, adopted a puppy and watch the Real Housewives together. We have even purchased a beach house together. IT IS LOVE!

I am secretly glad that this weekend is over because I was totally dreading my “medical thingy”! It went fine but it was a little stressful leading up to it. This was also my only weekend home for the rest of the summer. We are traveling almost every other weekend. So it was kind of nice to lay inside and be a slob all weekend!

How was your weekend?

The Service was Ahhh-Mahhhh-Zing

2011-07-14T09:17:00.001-04:00

I am beyond impressed with the service Cath Kidston has just given me and I just have to share it with all of you.

brrrrrrr (rewind sound) Back in March, when I was in London, I went to the Cath Kidston store in Windsor. My mother and I ooohed and ahhhed over everything but I didn’t buy anything. I was still in my post-Louis bag moratorium. I mean how can I have Louis (pronounced Louie) and be out buying other purses, knowing I would NEVER cheat on Louis with some other lame purse!

So over the 4th of July weekend, when I was knee deep in my Kate Middleton love affair, I saw on What Kate Wore that she had the Cath Kidston Spot Holdall bag. This girl picked up her iPad so fast I almost got whip lash and went to the Cath Kidston USA site. Lo and behold the Spot bag WAS ON SALE. It was like Manna from the gods!! A true sign that I NEEDED to own this bag!

Side Note- I girl crush/puffy pink heart love Kate Middleton! I was not that interested in her originally but recently it has all changed. She is just SO DAMN PRETTY! Plus she seems nice (hate her) and she has GORG hair (double hate her).

Kate in front of Cath Kidston right before her wedding.

Anyhoo, I bought the bag but never received an order confirmation. I emailed Cath Kidston but never heard back from them till a couple days later. I got a short email stating that they never received my order. I went back to the website and of course, the bag was sold out! I was really annoyed, so I emailed back, stating that the bag was now sold out and could they help me replace my order.

CRICKETS

Finally 10 days after I placed my order, the FANTASTIC Lisa/Tanya/Samantha (I got bounced around a little) emailed me back. She apologized for the loss of my order and asked if there was any way she could help me. I was super annoyed at this point because:

1. I had the bag and lost it

2. You can get that damn bag anywhere, not even on ebay

3. It was on sale

4. Since I placed my order, all the bag prices went up (probably because of Kate!)

I told Lisa I still was interested in the bag and she told me they had the shooting star print or the rose holiday available.

I finally picked the shooting star and the lovely peeps at Cath Kidston gave it to me for the original sale price of $42!!! I was tres pissed and now I am tres thrilled!

Isn’t it fantastic when a plan comes together???

I DIE!

2011-07-13T10:57:00.000-04:00

My cousin introduced me to Bon Qui Qui over the 4th of July. Seriously, I am dying!

RUDE

You so pretty, like model!

Hilarious!

Happy Birthday Scott

2011-07-12T11:02:00.001-04:00

Today is Scott’s 31st birthday!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to the best husband EVER!!!!