greatest hits

let's just say that "pregnancy brain" does not make me feel like the sharpest tool in the shed.  so here is my attempt to remember (with the aid of photos, of course) the events of the past week.

1) i took of 1/2 a day of work to go to ben's class halloween party.  super-cute, indeed. (pictured below: our ghost toasts; and ben the elephant with his best bud, dr. brody.)

 2) i got to moonlight as kat von d's (aka my sister's) personal temporary tattoo artist.  doesn't she look like a badass?

 3) isn't pumpkin-carving supposed to be fun?  well, when you try to carve a white pumpkin, carving turns into a full-body workout.  we learned that white pumpkins have walls of cement.  keep that in mind when you buy your pumpkins next year! 

 4) these two besties reunited at last.  they managed to play with every toy in the house AND eat about a dozen cookies each.  no means yes when they're together.  we got together to celebrate travis's homecoming.  his sweet wife sarah flew him home to see his beloved rangers play in the world series.  chris was over the moon because he got to tag along to the final game with his dear friend. 

 5) watching maggie trying to figure out how that baby got into kelly's belly.

 6) trick-or-treating with our little elephant.  this is my favorite picture of the night.  ben couldn't figure out why he couldn't just barge right into mimi's house like normal.  he didn't understand that he couldn't come in until grandpa found the candy :)

7) when it's cold and rainy, chris and i want one thing: pho. vietnamese soul food.  yummmmmmmm.

yay!  i did it.

until next time,

the end.

xoxoxo

*october picture album found here.

be afraid...

... be very, very afraid.

halloween 2010

R.I.P.

R.I.P. zach the frog.

your short stay here was a memorable one for a certain two year old.

you will be missed (by him).

beautiful things

alrighty then.  this image encouraged me to share a few things that have caught my eye lately.  image via.

preeeeeety.  i found this image via Cup of Jo, and read more about the artist here.  i could look at her work all day.  a new spin on some classics.

man he's pretty dreamy, right?  i certainly wouldn't mind floating on that boat.  image via.

oh my goodness.  this photo essay by a brand new daddy is so honest and beautiful.  found via.

this quote:

If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself,
not other people. It is easier to protect your
feet with slippers than to carpet the whole
of the earth.

-Athony de Mello
(found i don't remember where)


and lastly, on a shallow note: i am in the market for a winter coat.  a warm, casual, roomy one.  here are the contenders (old navy is having a huge sale):

 

which one gets your vote? 

greatest hits

1) a birthday dinner with my girls.  complete with a patio and gloria's bean dip.  happy birthday, jenn!

2) watching my handsome husband run (and do really, really well) in a 5k.  followed by lunch at all good cafe (no pancakes this time), and a quick stop at our neighborhood halloween carnival.

3) finally making it to one of ryan and emily's famous halloween parties.  pictured below are marcy the hippie and ryan the bp oil spill worker (the host with the most).  seriously, this party is ridiculous.  cannot wait for next year's.

jesse james and kat von d even made an appearance.

4)  a little pumpkin painting.  can you guess who painted each pumpkin?

5) our new foster frog, zach (originally named nanan).  my friend jenn teaches fourth grade at my school and her class just completed a science lesson on frogs and their habitats.  each frog was adopted out to a student upon completion of the lesson.  well, a fourth grade criminal stole a frog and stored it in a cottage cheese container under his bed.  needless to say, his mother was none too happy at the discovery of this frog in her home.  the poor starving frog was promptly returned to school.  and now we have a frog.  poor guy is clinging to life.  i keep telling ben that zach the frog is "sleeping".  ben doesn't seem to mind one bit.  he got so excited watching his new friend float that he spit in the fishbowl.  i had to promptly explain that spitting is not allowed.

6) hearing a precious heartbeat for the first time.


7) explaining to the sweet little wild man below that babies grow in mommies' bellies.

until next time,
the end.
xoxoxo

go daddy go

well, he can cross that one off the bucket list.  chris ran a 5k.  that may not be a big deal to some, but it is for us.  we are more the patio-sitting, beer-drinking, tv watching, go out to eat type.  but lately we have made more of an effort when it comes to our health and fitness.  it seems chris has rediscovered his inner teenage track star.  hubba, hubba.

chris at home before the race.  it was early so i stayed behind to get ben up and fed before we headed up there to see chris off!

the race took place in our neighborhood and benefitted our local elementary school's literacy program.   can't beat that with a stick.  ben and i made it to the start line seconds before the runners left.  i found the top of chris's head (red hat) but ben couldn't locate daddy in the crowd before the race started.

which resulted in this mood.   it improved immensely once he found a tree to hang in.

what a stud.

gig 'em and good job, daddy.  
we love you and are so proud of you.

music nerds

chris and i are music nerds.  it is one of the many things we have in common.  my taste is a bit all over the place, while his is more specific.  collectively, our brains are filled with enough useless knowledge about bands/musicians to win that awesome musical jeopardy game that used to air on vh1 back in the day.  man, where is that show now?  we could win some monies!
i like to blame it on having waaaaaaay too much time on my hands in college. instead of going to baseball games, working out at the rec center, studying in the library, getting involved in some of the hundreds of student organizations, i watched a thousand episodes too many of vh1's behind the music.  it could also have something to do with the music magazines we read and our long-standing love/hate relationship with mtv.  chris will say he hates it, but i know the truth.  we are 31 and still watching the real world, for crying out loud!  when will it end?  will i be a 60 year old guiltily watching twenty year olds make out in hot tubs on tv?  hopefully i'll grow up between now and then.
we caught the latest top 100 artists of all time on vh1 this weekend.  of course it was a marathon, and of course we had to watch the entire thing.  it seems like they come up with a new version of the same list every few years.  and although i may not agree with the list order, it does remind me that i might need to switch things up on my ipod every now and again.


the list reminded me of my love for fleetwood mac.  they have the best behind the music ever.  drama for your mama.

ben went through an otis redding phase at around a year old.  he's an early bloomer.  i will never tire of mr. redding.

peter gabriel is so odd.  but his music is just so beautiful.  i had a hard time picking out which video to post.  he'll be back in my rotation stat.

(nanan, if you are reading this, skip this video.  you'll hate it.)  it's just so, so good, and i'll never change my mind. this song makes me want to drive around with the music loud.  and dance around in my gangsta saturn vue hybrid like the 31 year white mom that i am.  holla.


see, told ya my taste was all over the place.