Category: Raves

I Heart Sesame Street – Even if Katy Perry is Inappropriately Dressed

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First, I don’t actually think what she was wearing was all that bad – I have that shirt in purple (only kidding). Just in case you’ve been living in a cave:

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/a-line/sesame-street-pulls-controversial-katy-perry-duet/624

But this is not the point of today’s blog. The point is that my sweet Baylie Bay has discovered Sesame Street. She’s previously only ever been interested in Baby Einstein and would never pay attention to anything on TV (except for the Geico commercial where the little piggy screams “wwweeeeee!!!”. She loves that one). It’s probably because it’s almost always on the Today Show and even I don’t watch it, I just need people speaking in full sentences with actual words in the background so I don’t lose it.

However, this morning when I put on channel 8 just to see what she would do, she was transfixed. Maybe it was because they were doing laundry and this has been one of B’s favorite activities since she could stand and move things from the washer to the dryer. Or maybe she’s just ready to move beyond colorful toys and classical music, by Momma is in heaven. A half hour of quiet time outside of the meer 2 hours of nap time a day is golden. It means a shower, hair and makeup without having to wrestle my mascara away from her. A chance to get dressed all at one time instead of pulling Bay out of the dog water dish while trying to get on jeans. Ahhh, serenity is a shower in silence.

On a side note, we packed up the Pack n’ Play yesterday and put it into storage where it will wait for the next kiddo. It was a little bittersweet. 30% of me was a little sad to see the bed that Bay slept in for the first 2 months (ok, 5) of her life leave our bedroom. The other 70% of me was shocked that our room is SO MUCH BIGGER without a pack n’play, two dog crates and a sound machine. You see, Bear and Travis did not take kindly to Ms.B when she first arrived so we reintroduced crates, which they actually really like. And in fear that they would feel neglected if moved to the office rather than sleep in our room, we put their crates in there. And because two elderly dogs make a lot of noise in their sleep (snuffling, farting, snoring) and so do babies (snuffling, farting, snoring – no one tells you that they make TONS of noise even when they sleep!) and Peter talks in his sleep (I, however, am totally silent and keep to my side of the bed and in no way steal the covers and wrap myself up so that Peter can’t get them back), we had a very loud sound machine to drown out all the noise so everyone could actually sleep.

Now, the crates are gone. The pack n’play is gone and the sound machine has moved to Bay’s room with her. All that’s left is silence – which in our world means only a slightly quieter din – but to us, it’s heaven.

I Do! I Mean, They Did!

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Gorgeous, right?

I had the distinct honor of attending my good friend and Alpha Phi sister and her lovely fiance’s wedding this past weekend. Kristin and Jack tied the knot (literally – I’ll get to that) this past weekend in Prescott. To say this wedding was typical couldn’t be further from the truth. While it appeared to be a traditional event, there were too many amazing details that made it nothing short of fantastic.

To start, Kristin anticipated every guests needs. There was a shuttle to take you from the hotel to the ceremony. Got a heavy gift? The gift table was 1 step away from where the bus stopped. Chilly? An array of pashminas (spelling?) in deep purple, copper and cream, the colors of the wedding. Shoes killing your feet? Yup, there were copper sparkly flip flops so you could kick off your heels and keep dancing. Thirsty? I literally almost knocked over a guy with an entire tray full of wine selections. Not sure what kind of cake you’re in the mood for? Don’t worry, there were at least 4 different and delicious varieties to choose from.

While all of these things alone would make any event special, it was the usual things that Kristin and Jack made perfect. Most couples when getting married at sunset would have the guests face the sunset. But these two had the guests face away so you could watch the landscaping change from tan to warm pinks and oranges, thus providing an amazing back drop for the beautiful bride and groom. And the knot tying business; Jack’s sweet sister, Stormy, was the officiate of their wedding. Part of the ceremony including taking several silk ribbons and tying J and K’s hands together. There are several theories on where the term comes from, but many believe this old Christian ritual is the origin. Not to mention adorable and very pretty! The couple also held a stone from a mountain they visited in Switzerland, thus setting their vows in stone. The guests were all given a bell tied with ribbons to shake and the couple was pronounce husband and wife – you can see them in the picture above. It is so far, Baylie’s favorite toy this week.

The best part, in my opinion, was that Jack and Kristin did a lot of their pictures prior to the ceremony. And also because it was a smaller wedding, we got to see them! They were at cocktail hour, dinner and dancing – not being whisked away for pictures. It was so nice to get to tell them how beautiful it all was and dance the night away, rather than wondering when they would join everyone.

Due to the excessive amount of wine and dancing, Tyler husband of Megan, left his coat at the table. When we retrieved it to take with us on the bus back to the hotel, we realized he left his glasses in the pocket. And thus, a sunglasses montage ended what was a truly memorable evening.

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Thomson!



Shopping Jackpot

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It always seems like shopping is hit or miss. You either find a thousand things that you love but can’t afford or don’t need – or your desperate for an article of clothing and would pay any price and it’s nowhere to be found. I had the former shopping experience last Friday (except it was all affordable!) – I should have gone and bought a lottery ticket because I for sure would have won!

The luck started out at Victoria’s Secret. As any girl will tell you, bra shopping sucks. No one likes it and if they do, they are lying. As soon as you have a style you like, it’s discontinued. Just when you know your size, some woman gets in your personal space with a tape measure and tell you that you’re wrong and you begin to doubt yourself. The worst is there are only two extremes for stores that sell bras: you either get Victoria’s Secret with about thirty 20 somethings running around with more makeup on their faces than brains in their heads OR the old lady shop, where the woman who looks like your grandma, is trying to sell you something that looks like it belongs on a nun from 1820.

Sooo, I was obviously less than enthused about the trip and when the second sales twit bumped into me, I almost left – thankfully, I stuck it out. I got a rewards coupon in the mail from buying something on-line recently. It was good for at least $10 off any bra BUT could be worth up to $100, but you had to go to the store to find out. It turns out, mine was worth $50 and thus paid for my entire order. Plus I have $15 left over on a gift card!

Next I headed to Aveda. They have some dumb rewards program where you get points for purchases that can be redeemed for products on their rewards web site. Except that everything on their rewards site sucks.  Now there is a new policy where you can redeem your points for candles in the store! I love their candles and the one I got was free!

Next I headed to Mecca, I mean Nordstrom. I had a few things from Clinique that I needed and, miracles of miracles, they had all the things I needed in stock AND in the colors I wanted. Haleluia chorus! Now if they had just had a gift with purchase, I would have been sure I was being set up somehow…

Lastly, I went to the shoe department. As several of you know, I have what Peter affectionately call skis, for feet. I.E. they are huge. I wear and 11 and I’m ignoring the fact that all my shoes feel a little small after having Baylie (I’m ignoring that wives tale, thank you very much) and finding the shoe in the style, color and size I’m looking for seems to be impossible lately. I happened to get the one sales lady that also wears and 11 (I just love when the chick helping you wears a size 6 and does not understand that when you said 11, you didn’t mean 9 1/2). I found a sandal that I liked and a color that was ok. She brought me more than one style to try on as they usually do at Nordies, and the alternative to what I had picked was a size 11 and in the color I really wanted but was not on display. And the really really good part? They were $40!! JACKPOT!!!

So I think this might mean that I’m destined to have terrible shopping experiences going forward – but I’ll look gooood in the process!