Restaurant Conundrum

So, let's say you have a favorite restaurant with awesome food and a fun atmosphere.  You go there all the time because it's one of those constant craving types.  And it's nice, not trashy.

Let's say you went there on Saturday with your friends.

Let's say that one of you had a fly in your salad (comp'd meal and two personal apologies) and another of you was sick the next two days with food poisoning (much vomiting and wishing for death). 

But YOUR food (read: mine) was GREAT.

So.  What do you do?  Never go again because they might actually be nasty?  Or continue going because it's so dang good and there are normally no issues?  I could write it off as a totally random crappy coincidence.  But if I go again, I might just imagine flies in my food and not be able to eat.  Or remember Kyle being deathly sick and miserable.

SUCKY.

Giveaway that I am really enthusiastic about.

It's rare that I blog about giveaways, just for one more measly entry.  But I really. really. really. want this.

See Kate Sew is a fabulous craft blog.  Kate is also my friend from high school who I've always been secretly jealous of because she can do ANYTHING and is so cool.  I spoke at her baptism, which makes me feel very important.  Her little baby boy Cohen is one of the hippest and cutest kids out there.

ANYWAYS I didn't need to write all that for an entry, just about the giveaway.  She's giving away a LETTERPRESS MACHINE.  Yes. Letterpress. In your home.  It's my DREAM.  I need it.  Now that I know you can get it for $100, I'm going to need to buy it if I don't win.  (Yeah right. Like THAT'S in our budget.)

SO don't enter, because I want to win.  If you win, I'll be bitter and hateful for a little while.  Seriously.  But do read See Kate Sew.  Or Kate's normal, non-crafty blog. Both are on my blog roll.  Now that you know how awesome Kate is, you will want to.

Crawling!, (sex), and Baby Animals

Ruby's crawling is getting out of hand. I now have to be certain that there's nothing on/near the floor in the entire room that could be harmful/harmed before leaving her even to go to the bathroom.  It's now even harder to get things done.  To make up for it, she is even cuter and more fun than ever.  I'm so grateful for her.

What I'm not grateful for? My neighbors.  Congratulations on having such a, uh, vigorous love-life, but could you please move your bed away from the wall?  And maybe keep the shouting to a minimum?  It was a less than pleasant way to be woken up early Sunday morning.  Especially when it happens so frequently.  (I'm sorry if this grosses all of you out, but imagine how I must feel.)

ANYWAYS back to me and my family.  We have been visiting the animals by our house a lot lately.  And yes, one of the little kangaroos touched my stomach.  What a boon.  The baby llama continues to be the cutest thing ever, except for the two baby goats. I want to smuggle them in my coat and take them home with me.  And the little lambs we drive by every day have been not just standing and eating and looking cute, but also running and jumping and gamboling about, looking cute.  It kills me every time.  While I haven't ever been a huge roast lamb person, I am now even less likely to ever eat it.  They're too darling.

And now, an adorable picture of MY baby animal stuck in her cage.  Baby human.

Manipulative?

There been lots of talk lately about how manipulative I am.  I resent it.  Because guess what?  It's totally not true.  I'm strong-willed.  I'm persuasive.  That does NOT mean I'm manipulative.

Manipulation requires forethought and a malicious motive.  I totally don't work that way.  I don't try to bend people to my will. I don't try to achieve my own wishes at the expense of others'.  Sure I think my plan is the best plan, but doesn't everyone?

So lay off me, yo.

Kyle says I sound mad and aggressive.  I'm not really.

Kyle says I STILL sound mad.  What can I do to make this kinder and gentler?

I know:

Would an angry person be posting pictures of young Harrison Ford?  Impossible. He's too wonderful.

6 Months

Ruby is SIX MONTHS OLD.  Whoa.

She's 16 lbs! 52%
Height: 85%
Head: 54%

She is great at eating cereal and now we've started with vegetables!  Woo!  Hopefully she'll eat them more than I ever did. She loves green beans so far--weirdo.

My favorite part of the day is getting her up in the morning. She is so happy to see me and get out of bed. She kicks and giggles and beams at me and makes me feel amazing.

Ruby has mastered the exersaucer and rolling back and forth.  She loves standing while holding on to our ottoman and has taken a couple steps like that.

She is 90% crawling.  She is SO CLOSE it just kills me.  She gets on her hands and knees all the time and rocks.  She also tries to crawl with her knees together--it's hilarious.  And I love when she sticks her bottom in the air and does a little hop to try to travel.  She's so funny to watch.  And she can totally get around...just not traditionally.

Her first tooth is coming in!  I can see it and feel it.  I'm going to miss her gummy grin, but teeth will be pretty dang cute too.

Ruby is finally babbling.  Her most common words are "blah blah" and "dada"--we"ll get "mama" one of these days. I love hearing her talk.

Happy half birthday, baby girl.

Mmmmm Giveaway

So you know my friend Ashley, who made these awesome treats?:

(And many many more, but it turns out that I moved all other pictures of her desserts to my external hard drive so I can't show you more proof of her delightful creations. Just believe me. Or look at her cake blog.)

She is hosting a GIVEAWAY!  You get entries for commenting on her blog, following her blog, facebooking, and blogging about her giveaway.  Totally worth it.  She's going to give away a cake, a dozen cupcakes, and sugar cookies.  (The sugar cookies will go to someone far away because they're easy to ship.)

Go enter!



I hope I win!

fashion blogger for a day

I am not skinny. I am not stunningly beautiful.  Having a baby made my face chubby and my hair brown.

But it's still possible for me to look cool!  The key to my style: be interesting.  You don't have to be hot or have a perfect body to look cool.  You just need to add a little something to an otherwise blah outfit.

For example: I have nothing against wearing jeans and a t shirt to everyday activities.  But I never wear just jeans and a t shirt.

Shirt, Target. Vest, Forever 21. Jeans, Gap.

I usually just throw on a vest.  It adds some interest.

Shirt, thrifted. Vest, American Apparel. 

Shirt, Shade. Vest, Forever 21. Glasses, Lucky.

(I somehow have a lot of vests.)

(Also, I've had glasses for years because I'm nearsighted, and NEVER wore them.  Several months ago I decided to embrace my bad eyesight and make glasses part of my identity--and consequently, I have a new constant accessory.  I recommend it.)

In the dastardly winter of Utah (which we're finally getting out of), my outdoor uniform is jeans and a black peacoat.

Coat, Gap. 

Far too boring.  This is much better.

Brooch, vintage. Scarf, thrifted.

Brooches and scarves are the easiest things in the world to throw on, with big results.  (I recommend thrift stores and antique stores for cheap accessories. That brooch cost me $5 at an antique store, and the scarf was fifty cents.)

Sure, I want to lose 20 pounds, I have very little money to work with, and my baby girl will wipe carrots and sweet potatoes on anything I wear.  It's not worth it to me to put on expensive clothes that will just get filthy, but it doesn't mean I have to wear sweats all day (as appealing as that sounds).  Just putting a little effort into what I wear makes a big difference in how I feel about my looks.

(Helpful hint: Skinnies or jeggings are the most comfortable pants in the world, and almost anything you wear with them will look cool. T-shirt and bootcut jeans? Blah.  T-shirt and jeggings? Hip.)

I'm not super hot, but I get compliments all the time on what I'm wearing, and that's enough for me.  People always notice my accessories.  It's all about putting on something basic and adding something awesome to it.  And that's what makes it YOUR style.

Danger Signs

Ruby is getting alarmingly good at this move:

And she's figured out that getting on her knees adds to her mobility.  I'm scared.  Once she learns to crawl, there goes my life.

Exersaucer Fun Times

I love Ruby's eyes.  So far they're pretty blue. I'm hoping they'll stay that way!

She loves her exersaucer. She usually has a hand on 2 toys.

Unless she needs both to cram something in her mouth, of course.

Check out how drooly she's getting.  It's actually not super often that she drools this much, and when she does, I'm there to wipe it off because I think it's gross.  Not this time though. Whoops.

At least she's enjoying herself.

Alone

I dislike being alone. I don't like going places by myself or walking alone or even watching a movie without someone else.  I think it's embarrassing to be alone in public, and boring to be alone at home.  I also don't really think I'm all that special. 

 Something about this video made me happy.

Songs

I love singing to Ruby.  It is something that I've always looked forward to.  The songs my mom and dad sang to us growing up are really special to me, and I'm so happy when I get to sing the same songs to Ruby.  Last week I got a letter in the mail from my grandma that was so sweet it made me cry.  Right before signing it, she wrote "Sing to her!"  I love that.

For posterity's sake, here are the songs I sing to Ruby before she goes to sleep:

• The I Love You song.  This is a song Mom sang to us girls when we were especially sad.  When we were in Zions Lucy sang it to Ruby and it made me weep.
• You Are My Sunshine. This song has always meant a lot to me.  I do change the words to the 2nd verse when I'm singing it to Ruby though, otherwise I get too sad.  I say "you were right there" instead of "I was mistaken" and "smiled" instead of "cried." Just the idea of Ruby not being with me is enough to upset me.  I can't believe Mom taught us the sad verse as kids!
• Baby Mine. This used to make me and my sisters and mom instantly weepy if we sang it, because of the childhood trauma marketed as Dumbo.   So we didn't really sing it very often. I do love some of the words though, and sing my favorite parts to Ruby.
• Greenfields.  SO SAD.  It's great for when Ruby is really upset because it's long enough to calm her down AND I don't get bored singing it.  This is the song Mom and Dad ALWAYS sang in the car to us. I love it.

During normal playtime I sing fun and happy kid songs (with a hefty dose of George Michael, Frank Sinatra and David Bowie) but I love tragic songs for bedtime and naptime for some reason.  She also got a lot of Backstreet Boys when she was a newborn :)  I go through phases!

Singing as parents, and as a family all together, is a big deal to me--I guess just because that's what we did in my family.  It'll be fun to carry on that tradition.