My girl

It’s been a minute since I did an LG update. It’s getting harder and harder to give updates because things change so quickly. One day she says “tomorrlow” for tomorrow and the next day she doesn’t. (I, of course, keep saying “tomorrlow” because TOMORROLO. How cute is that.)

LG is obsessed with babies. If she hears a baby laughing/crying/whatever, her head perks up and her eyes dart around and she says, “I think I hear a baby.”

She’s still very suspicious of, well, pretty much anyone. I hate when others say she’s shy, because she is not shy; she simply has a very discerning personality. We ran into a colleague of mine at Target a few weeks ago and she just stared him down. He still laughs about it.

Of course, we are working with her on simple things like ordering her own food at a restaurant, saying please and thank you to others (she’s very good about saying it to us.) Maybe this means, okay, she is a little shy, but shy or not, she will order her own pizza and say thank when it gets placed in front of her, so help me.

She still naps at school (herd mentality?) but only rarely naps at home on the weekends. While we’d love an hour or two of Mom and Dad time (the DVR isn’t going to clear itself) this is actually kind of freeing because I remember not so long ago living and dying by the nap schedule. It’s nice to know we can go without (although going without means a 6:30pm bedtime because hello exhausted child.)

Every teacher at school comments on how smart she is and how much she loves to help. “She has her moments,” her favorite teacher told me the other day, which, YES SHE DOES, but most of the time, she is a total helper girl. Setting the table, putting the mustard back in the fridge, anything I happen to need at that time, LG’s my go-to gal.

(This to me is the best part of raising a kid. Raising them to (please god) be a good human being. I’ve said before that my forte is not workbooks or crafts or playing on the floor with my kid. But giving her a task and helping her complete it? Or encouraging her that yes she can do it when she says it’s too hard? Or explaining the process of asking for help if it is too hard? That’s my jam.)

When I get these comments about her smarts (talk to me about how she knows every single body part in Spanish. I didn’t know “rodilla” is knee, did you?) I get very Proud Momma. Because cute is fine and nice is good, but smart! Smart and funny are my two top compliments.

She still has those cheeks! And she still lets me kiss them every day when I drop her off at school.

Her favorite shows are Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She’s getting more into real live movies (Look Who’s Talking, aka: Mikey Baby, is her favorite), so this Christmas I’ve been showing her some of my favorites like The Santa Clause, Elf, and Home Alone. She, unfortunately, is terrified of Marv and Harry (“It’s SCAWY!”), so we’ve been fast-forwarding their scenes. (We’ve been doing a lot of fast-forwarding.) I’m also looking forward to 24 hours of A Christmas Story in just a few short nights. I think she’ll enjoy Randy and Ralphie.

She continues to love all foods except onions and tomatoes. Last night we had Hanukkah at my parents’ house and she was done with her second plate of food before most people were done with their first plates.

She’s a fun little girl, and so sweet. She does have her moments, YES, but they’re few and far between.

Posted in LG | 3 Comments

Updates

I survived my improv show. That took up a lot of mental space for awhile there (although not much space here, so you may not know that I was freaking out about it, but I was totally freaking out about it.) Anyway, it was a lot of fun and now of course, three classes into my 201 class, where we learn A LOT more, I’m like hmm why hasn’t my eye stopped twitching in two months OOOH GOT IT.

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving? Ours was delightful. We went to the Northwest to spend the holiday with Chris’s entire family. I ate a ton of food and went on a few runs along the Puget Sound. I drank port and ate fancy chocolates and went to a dive bar. The Seahawks won their game and we all slept in until 7:55am one morning. See? Delightful.

My sister-in-law has a great singing voice and while she was trying to get our girls to nap one day, she asked LG what song LG would like her to sing and LG said, “The ABCs!” Chris and I have joked that that has always been LG’s favorite song, but, uhh, I guess it really is.

LG’s Christmas gifts are bought and are currently squirreled away in Chris’s restoration car in the garage, the downstairs closet, and our bedroom closet. We got all her gifts at the greatest store in America. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s called Costco. Here’s what she’s getting:

– A baby stroller (like, FOR her babies)
It comes with a little removable carrier thing. I actually remember having almost the exact same thing when I was her age.

– Two different art kits with approximately 1.2 millions stickers each
One is Doc McStuffins themed and one is various Disney princess themed. One also comes with stamps and stamp pads. That should blow her mind.

– Giant stuffed Olaf
So maybe two days after we bought her a giant stuffed Olaf, LG told us, “I’m getting a stuffed Olaf for Christmas!” and we were like, “What! No!” and then to one another we were like, “How the fuck does she know that?!” The only thing I can think is a few weeks before, LG and I were at Bed Bath & Beyond, where she saw a similar Olaf, and maybe I said something like, “If you’re good, maybe you’ll get one for Christmas!” but that’s not usually my style, so who knows. Maybe LG has a touch of the ESP like her ma.

– Two puzzles
The girl loves puzzles.

– Socks
She also likes/needs socks.

– As yet to be determined stocking stuffers
Whatever I find at Target the next time I’m there.

– She told me last night that she wanted Frozen pjs, so dammit, that may also make it in there. I am a sucker.

If I run 47 miles in December, I’ll hit 500 miles for the year. It’s five days in and I’ve run none so far. It’s looking good, I’d say.

Chris and I are having my parents over for Christmas, so we’re currently discussing Christmas menu options. We didn’t get to do this for Thanksgiving and as people who like to plan their next night’s dinner while they’re eating their current dinner, you can imagine this has been quite the topic of conversation.

I went on a shopping spree recently and bought a ton of new clothes. Clothes that actually fit! I also went through my closet and got rid of everything ill-fitting, even items that are so soft and cozy they’re hard to part with. Done! Adios, too-big t-shirt!

I got a handful of new sweaters/cardigans, a blouse with swans on it, a pair of jeans, t-shirts (one of which I ruined THE FIRST DAY I wore it. No more white tees for me), leggings, ankle boots, leopard print sneakers, and I think that’s it. I’d still like a new pair of colored pants (red?) and a new blazer/jacket, but I can probably put that off until springtime. Ooh I also got something called a “cocoon” sweater from Old Navy that is fleece (god bless ON fleece.) It has a pouch in the front and a loose turtleneck-like neck and it covers my butt, so I can wear it with leggings. It’s the best.

That’s basically all that’s new with me. How are you?

Posted in All About Moi, Beauty & Fashion, Chris, Family, Food & Wine, Holidays, Improv, LG, Travel, Workin on my fitness | 4 Comments

Five things

Hillary tagged me to write five things! Here are five things!

1. Tonight I start Improv 201. I’m not even done with 101 yet (but will be this week), but another 201 class wasn’t starting until January and I didn’t want to get rusty and they were offering a deal, so boom: 201.

2. Chris and I spent my lunch hour today first eating In ‘N Out in his Jeep in a Costco parking lot (only the best!) and then power Christmas shopping. We got LG a bunch of gifts, now hidden away in the garage, and also a 7.5’ pre-lit tree, which better be worth it, because WOOF.

3. I need to make something for a work potluck on Wednesday. As the organizer of the potluck, I let everyone else sign up first, which naturally means all that’s left is dessert and ugh, I am not a baker. I sometimes get the urge to bake and what I make usually turns out okay, but I don’t have any go-to recipes. Do you? Something without pumpkin because pumpkin is gross. (For a moment at Costco, I contemplated buying something pre-made, but my coworkers go ALL OUT for these potlucks, so I can’t go that route. Someone’s bringing a soufflé, for god’s sake.)

4. We’ve been watching this Foo Fighters special (Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways) on HBO the past few weeks and boy is it great. They travel to a different city each week and interview various industry people (producers, music studio heads, sound engineers, artists, DJs; all famous or famous in their circle) and then at the end, they write and perform a song inspired by their visit. It’s insane. Dave Grohl just keeps getting better with age.

5. Look at the holiday gift guide and holiday decor guide my friend Caitlin put together! Great job! I want one of everything.

Posted in All About Moi, Book, Movies, TV, & Music, Holidays, Improv | 6 Comments

Stuffing

Snagged this from K. Here’s some stuff I’ve been doing and thinking…

Making… Like a tree and getting out of the office for a lunchtime walk.

Cooking… Breakfast for dinner tonight.

Drinking… Water and tea and sparky water. I like choices.

Reading… Best Friends Forever, by Jennifer Weiner.

Wanting… A Clarisonic.

Looking… Like it’s going to rain on Halloween. Boo. No pun intended.

Playing… The “Scottish Traditional” station on Pandora. I blame Outlander.

Wishing… For a vacation.

Enjoying… The crisp mornings. So crisp.

Waiting… Patiently for daylight savings time to be over. I’ll take dark at 5pm over dark at 7:30am any day of the week.

Wondering… What my next job will be.

Loving… My improv class! It’s super fun times, even though every time I think about five weeks from now (the student show), I have to all of a sudden run to the bathroom.

Hoping… We can make a trip to San Diego sometime soon.

Marveling… At my kid! She sang me a song in Spanish this morning. Like, when is she learning Spanish how is this even happening etc.?

Needing… Some new clothes. (Not wanting to do the shopping, though.)

Wearing… A shirt and boots my mom gave me. Also a scarf that made my cube mate ask me if I’d injured my neck. Soooo, not a great look, maybe?

Following… Everyone from three years ago and finally checking out Bossypants from the library.

Noticing… That recently my tum hurts after I have dairy. Say it ain’t so!

Knowing… As much as I want to see Gone Girl in the theater, it’ll never happen. KIDS, man.

Feeling… A little blue finding out today that my yoga studio is changing ownership. I had an actual nightmare the other night that my favorite teacher moved to Oregon (I spent the entire dream sobbing), so I feel like I must have had a touch of the ESP with this one. (I don’t think the change in ownership will affect the class schedule/my beloved teacher, but it still makes me a little on edge.)

Bookmarking… The Serial podcast. I hear it’s all the rage, but I’m waiting to tune in until Chris and I can listen together–gathered around the iPhone, 1930s-old-timey-radio style–which at this rate should be sometime in 2017.

Posted in All About Moi, Book, Movies, TV, & Music, Chris, Food & Wine, Improv, LG, Travel | 4 Comments

Top TV shows

My friend Elizabeth recently posted about her top 10 TV shows and I thought, Hey, I like TV, I should do one of these too. So here we are, in chronological-ish order.

I Love Lucy
I was maybe five or so when I told my mom about a “new,” hilarious TV show I’d discovered. It was right about then when I also discovered “reruns.”

Seinfeld
Seinfeld was maybe what turned me into a funny snob. To this day, if people say they don’t like Seinfeld, I assume they have a terrible sense of humor because how do you not like Seinfeld? I watched this every Thursday night with my parents and maybe we cried a little when it was over.

Will & Grace
While most people were obsessively watching Friends during this time, I was a Will & Grace fan. This is a series that has held up, too. If I catch a rerun now, it’s still as funny and on point as when it originally aired.

Sex and the City
My parents and I watched this every Sunday, and sometimes that was very awkward, but I feel like this show set the stage for all the great TV we have now on the premium channels; this sort of no rules television where you can say fuck because normal people in that situation would say fuck, so they should be able to say fuck and we should be able to see it on our TV. My favorite episode of the series is episode two of season four, when Carrie is a model. A cameo by Kevyn Aucoin, can you ask for more?

Friday Night Lights
Chris and I binge-watched FNL when we were both on leave when LG was first born. It will always hold a special place in my heart because of that, but I do sort of wonder if it would hold up for me now. As luck would have it, this is one of those shows that is not in reruns anywhere, so I guess all I have are my mem’ries.

Mad Men
I think the single greatest first episode of a TV show ever was the first episode of Mad Men. I’ll be mourning its end next year. (Also, if you’re not reading Entertainment Weekly’s recaps on this show each week, you’re missing out. They catch all the little nuances–what’s on Don Draper’s TV or what song was playing during a particular scene, what was going on historically that week–and they break down all the details Matthew Weiner wants us to see.)

Sons of Anarchy and Homeland
I’m lumping these together because Homeland is still pretty new and I was a little late to the game on SOA, so I feel like I can’t really claim ownership of it like I can with other shows. Anyway, both these shows do big things that others are afraid to. They kill off characters when it makes sense, even if it devastates the audience. SOA is horribly violent and Homeland is a little terrifying in the sense that I’m sure a lot of it is very true to what goes on internationally right now, but both shows are very real, with real people who you can relate to, even if you’re not in the CIA or a motorcycle club. (Kurt Sutter has said he puts a ton of work into vetting the storylines/details with actual members of MCs to make sure it’s authentic.)

Breaking Bad
Okay, so we weren’t hip to this show from the start, but we binge-watched all 62 episodes earlier this year, so I think you can say we committed in the end.

How I Met Your Mother
When it was good, it was really good (the Barney Stinson/Doogie Howser throwback scene was genius.) While I was happy with the series ending, I was not happy about the last season as a whole. Win some, lose some. Regardless, this is one of the few sitcoms I’ve gotten into in recent years, which is sad because I love sitcoms and most of them suck now.

Honorable Mentions (aka: Shows I Never Finished But Still Loved)

Friends
I did love this show, although it petered out for me around the time Joey and Rachel started dating. The gang’s trip to Vegas remains some of the best episodes on television, however. “I found my hand twin!” … “Oh you’re so lucky.”

Grey’s Anatomy
I started watching this when it first premiered. I’d just moved to San Diego and here were people my age-ish, being adults that I could relate to (more my age/demographic than SATC or Friends.) I stopped watching during the writers’ strike and never got back into it (I actually can’t believe it’s still on the air), but if I see a rerun, I’ll watch it for fun and remember 2005 fondly.

The Sopranos
This was another one my parents and I watched religiously together. Then I moved out and didn’t have cable and never finished the series (although I do know how it ends.) Maybe this is one Chris and I will need to rewatch from the beginning.

I feel like I missed so many shows that I should add to this list. I may need to do a part two. Anyway, What about you? What are your top TV shows?

Posted in Book, Movies, TV, & Music | 4 Comments

Podcasts: An update

Since we last talked podcasts, I’ve expanded my listening a little bit and am giving a few new podcasts a shot, so I thought an update was in order.

I’m still listening to everything I mentioned the last time, so go there first for the first favorites. New favorites include:

Totally Married
About: I gave this an honorable mention last time because I’d only listened to one episode, but after listening every week for the last six+ months, I’d definitely say I enjoy it. The show centers around Elizabeth and Andy (married) answering listener questions. Giving unqualified advice is one of my most favorite things ever, so obviously I dig. Sometimes Chris and I listen together.
Length: One hour
Updates: Once a week, on Mondays

Totally Laime
About: Yup, I’m Totally obsessed with all these podcasts. This one features Elizabeth and Andy and a guest star, usually a comedian or actor with varying degrees of notoriety. It’s always funny, they play games, I enjoy it a lot. Favorite episodes include Aisha Tyler, Regan Burns, Artemis Pebdani.
Length: One hour
Updates: Once a week, on Fridays

The Momo Show
About: I found this one through Totally Mommy because [actress] Morgan Walsh (one half of Momo) was a guest on TM. The other Mo is Mo Gaffney, who is also an actress and in a little movie called Drop Dead Gorgeous. I like this podcast because it’s a little inside Hollywood without being INSIDE Hollywood, if that makes sense. Like, Morgan (husband Matt Walsh is on Veep) and Mo are working actors, they live in the valley, etc. They’re not fancy-shmancy, but they often run with the fancy crowd. That seems not very complimentary, but I mean it complementary. It’s like listening to a quirky friend who meets Julia Louis-Dreyfus and still acts like her quirky self and then reports back to you about the encounter. Recently Momo has been getting a little too political for my liking, but I’m willing to overlook that for now.
Length: About an hour
Updates: Typically once a week, but it hasn’t updated in a few weeks because one of the Mos was off shooting a guest spot on a TV show.

Stuff I’m giving a shot:

Comedy Bang Bang
I’m 1 1/2 episodes in and I’m a little meh on it. There have been some LOL moments, but it’s an hour and a half long that is a long time to basically have someone doing impressions when really all I want is to listen to the interview with the main guest. I’d rather just hear Horatio Sanz as a guest than hear Horatio Sanz doing Aaron Neville. Anyway, I’ll give it one more episode.

The Moth, Risk
I know very little about either of these except a colleague of mine recommended them and she’s cool.

Improv4humans
This was recommended in my improv class last week. ‘Nuf said.

Indoor Kids
I found this on some random “funniest podcasts ever” list and thought I’d check it out. It’s co-hosted by Kumail Nanjiani who looks really familiar. Enough for me.

Totally Beverages (and Sometimes Hot Sauce)
About: Mostly beverages, occasionally hot sauce. Andy of the other Totally podcasts recently started this one and although it’s so ridiculous, I have listened to the first two episodes, so…who’s ridiculous now? Sometimes it can be kind of fun listening to people talk about the most seemingly-boring topics.
Length: An hour-ish
Updates: Once a week, I think on Wednesdays

Anything new and exciting you’re listening to lately?

Posted in Book, Movies, TV, & Music, Improv | 4 Comments

Rocktober

It’s now October and everywhere else on the planet (okay, no) it’s crisp and leafy and basic bitches are drinking PSLs and here it’s 90 and yet it’s so dark in the mornings, it gives the illusion that it might be crisp and cool and no. And even though I hate the time change, it’s also like, at least then I’ll wake up to it being a little light outside. Better than the only light I’ve been seeing in the mornings, a sliver from the hallway as I wake up to a little person saying, “Mommy. I pooped,” at 5:57am. GOOD MORNING.

I start an improv class tonight. It hit me last week that I needed to take an improv class and so I went online and found one and tonight’s the first class. I am excited (EVERYONE WATCH ME PERFORM!) and also nervous (SHIT WHAT IF I’M NOT FUNNY ON THE SPOT?), but mostly I’m like, Do I need to bring a pen and notebook? I haven’t take “a class” since December 2004. I am not sure how this works anymore.

LG is going as Doc McStuffins for Halloween. The costume is kind of dumb (lots of tulle and sparkles that get all over the place), but it comes with a stethoscope and it was $15 at Costco, so whatever. LG kept saying she wanted to be Cinderella, but there were no Cinderella costumes at Costco and so she’s Doc. (She told me, “I’m gonna be Cinderella for Halloween!” and I said, “How about Doc McStuffins?” and she said, “I’m gonna be Doc McStuffins for Halloween!” She’s pretty amenable.)

We’ll head to the pumpkin patch (called Bobby Dazzler’s because WHY NOT) in a couple weeks and then maybe carve a pumpkin and our town does a trick-or-treating thing downtown on Halloween, which should be fun. Bonus points is that Halloween is on a Friday, so when trick-or-treating ends, we can go for pizza and cocktails.

Holidays now are getting to be really exciting for all of us, as compared to two/three years ago, when they were more of an annoying task (who wants to drag a baby to a pumpkin patch? And then who wants to drag a screaming toddler around a pumpkin patch?) Now LG gets the idea of Halloween and is excited and knows it’s happening soon, even though “soon” means “tomorrow” and every day Chris has to be like, “I called the Halloween guy and they said you have to wait a little bit longer!” Blame it on the Halloween guy, why not.

Speaking of holidays, we’re going to Seattle for Thanksgiving, which we’ve never done. I am very excited. I am excited to see family and all that jazz, sure, but I am also excited I don’t have to cook and I can go on long runs alone along the Puget Sound. PRETTY excited about that.

I’ve been doing Priscilla’s Yoga Stretches on PBS the past two mornings. September was a pitiful workout month for me (27 miles, 9 workout days, woof), so I’m making a concerted effort in October. Since I don’t have a standing desk (PIPE DREAM), and my back continues to hurt if I sit too long, I thought I’d give Priscilla a try. My local PBS does two 15-minute shows at 6am, and while it’s not like a vinyasa flow, the poses are surprisingly difficult. I think this is due in part to the fact that Priscilla possibly lived a past life as a drill sergeant. In a unitard.

That’s all I got. What’s new with you all?

Posted in All About Moi, Holidays, Improv, LG, Workin on my fitness | 4 Comments

3Q14 books

I really thought I’d blow it out of the water this quarter and read a ton of books, but alas, I read three. I’m hoping for a solid fourth quarter to round out the year and finish with a bang. We’ll see.

Here’s what I read this month:

12th Of Never, by James Patterson
This is your typical Jimmy P. I don’t have anything to say about it except that you can rip my James Pattersons from my cold dead hands.

Mr. Maybe, by Jane Green
This started out pretty solid, in a cute Bridget Jones’s Diary kind of way, but then the main character just pulled some stupid BS and I spent the last half rage-reading. I am all for the flighty single gal in the city kind of book, but I need a little self-awareness from my main character. Just a smidge.

The Interestings, by Meg Wolitzer
This books starts out with a group of six teenagers who meet one summer at an arts camp. From their first meeting, the story jumps forward about 40 years, where we get a glimpse into where they are now, and then we spend the rest of time filling in the blanks for each person—how they got where they are in life, who they married, etc. I really liked the writing (it reminded me of Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld), but there’s basically no plot at all. I don’t really have a problem with that, if the writing is good, which it was in this book. HOWEVER, the mainest of the main characters never seemed to grow up, which, as she got to be 30, 40, etc., reaaaaaally started to wear on me. I just don’t find it endearing when a grown-ass lady acts like a teenager. Still, I would recommend, just be prepared to sum it up thusly: It’s…interesting.

What are you reading? Anything good? I keep starting books only to have to return them to the library because I haven’t read quickly enough. It’s very effective.

Posted in Book, Movies, TV, & Music | 2 Comments

School lunches

‘Tis the season everyone posting pictures of their kids’ lunches (is this what the Internet is now? Not even what I had for lunch, but what my kid had? It would be sad if I didn’t enjoy it.)

We try to pack LG a lunch similar to what she’d eat at home, but have learned that some things don’t translate. Crab tacos, for example, LG will eat at home, but won’t eat at school, which was fun to find out when we picked her up and noticed leaked crab juice all over her lunch bag. (THANKS FOR NOT JUST THROWING THAT AWAY, TEACHERS.)

Because I refuse to buy kid-specific food, we’re at the mercy of what we have in the fridge at any given time.

Here are some favorites:

Sandwiches (if we have lunch meat; if we don’t, we’ll cook up an egg and voila: egg sandwich)
Tortilla roll-ups (if we have lunch meat; cream cheese is also a plus if we’ve got that)
Cold eggs (hard-boiled eggs)
Olives
Carrot sticks
Popcorn
Salami
Pasta (with or without sauce)
Rice (better at school than at home, where I have to clean up the mess)
Beans (just plain old beans, any kind)

And here are some things we’ve tried that do not work:

Crab tacos!
Any kind of seafood, actually
Quinoa
Anything resembling salad

While LG is pretty into vegetables at home, she won’t eat a ton of veggies at school, minus the carrot sticks. Sometimes I can talk her into a snap pea or a green bean, but it depends on her mood. And of course not a week goes by that one of us doesn’t say, “Let’s just make her a peanut butter and je—UGH NEVER MIND.”

I’m always looking for new ideas—what do your kids take for lunch?

Posted in Food & Wine, LG | 1 Comment

Please, have a seat and look at slides of my summer vacation(s), Part IV

This is the last installment of look at all the places I went this summer. We took an impromptu trip to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago. Neither of us are very big beach people, but we wanted to beat the heat and the best place to do that is at the coast. The trip can be summed up such: Eat, drink, read magazines, eat some more, drink some more, play in the pool, go home. It was a good trip.


How cute.


How…something.


I once had a bloody mary with to-order filet mignon as a garnish. It’s kind of hard to beat that. Oh, you put a green bean in your bloody mary? A hunk of beef jerky? MEH. This bacon-wrapped prawn, though, was tops.


Sand in all the places.


Seriously, sand everywhere.


Yup.


Bathtime in the pool!


LG dug her “new bed!”

And then we all went to bed at 9pm watching 20/20. We really know how to vacation.

Posted in Chris, LG, Travel | 1 Comment