Posts I meant to write last week

Monday: Our new-found love for the movie Tangled, and its supreme bribery powers to get Maya to behave.
Tuesday: Maya's second birthday. There would have been tears. Oh, and photo of the potty training toilet we're going to start using in the near future.
Thursday: More stuff.
Friday: A preview of my weekend/work trip to NYC.

What I actually did last week, instead of blogging:

Monday: Fell asleep on the couch as soon as Maya went to bed.
Tuesday: Put together one of Maya's birthday presents.Passed out upon completion.
Thursday: Packed for NYC and went to bed early due to a super-early flight the next morning.
Friday: Took a 6 am flight to NYC. Took Maya to Central Park. Napped.

So basically, I slept through blogging. Um, having a two-year-old is exhausting.

Catching up

Well hello there.

It's been a while. I've been busy, as always. Traveling a ton. Nothing new there. I've also been slowly picking away at this 365 project. Sorting through things, getting rid of stuff, taking pictures. Doing everything involved in the project, except blogging.

And you know what? I really need to blog. Not just to keep up with this project or track my progress, but to get shit out there. I need to write and share and get advice on everything from music recommendations to parenting help to recipe ideas.

Figuring out where to start up again is the hardest part. Do I attempt to recap all the milestones of the past few months? Just pick up again like I never stopped?

In my job, I sometimes help companies structure a blogging strategy. So I suppose I should know how to do this. If I were doing this for a client, I'd tell them to start with a schedule. You don't have to stick with the schedule forever, or even in the short term, but a regular schedule will help you get up and running.

Personally, I'll let alliteration guide my schedule:

Maya Mondays
Toilet Tuesdays (I'll explain more later)
Things Thursdays
Free-for-all Fridays

So there. Let's see how it goes.

Summer of weddings

This summer combined two of my favorite things: 90-degree weather, and weddings. That's not a joke. I love hot summers, and I truly love weddings. Getting dressed up, crying during the ceremony, dancing like a fool, the open bar. Weddings are the best.

But I have to say that this summer delivered my favorite things in extreme abundance. It was a very hot summer, and we attended a record 5 weddings. And I must admit that for the first time ever, I'm looking forward to the end of summer and the wedding season. Not that the weddings we attended weren't awesome, because they were! But, whew, I'm tired. (And broke.)

Here's a little overview of our champagne-laden season:

June in Chicago: A co-worker gets married.

June in Kansas City: Chris was the best man and Maya was the flower girl in Chris' best friend's wedding.

Maya ate the flowers.

July in Pittsburgh: Chris' cousin got married. Here were are with Chris' family after the ceremony.

The husband and I attended the reception sans baby.

August in Chicagoland: Missy and Dave got married. Cutest cake toppers ever.

August in North Carolina: A childhood friend gets married. This was supposed to be a beach wedding, but got moved inside/on the dock due to rain. But on the plus side, check out the rainbow!

Raise a glass to Summer 2010!

Sweet free

If you watch way too much TV like I do, you might have noticed that the fast food restaurants are starting to roll out their fish-themed advertising. (McDonald's "Give me back that filet-of-fish" is easily my fave, though I haven't seen it yet this year). This influx of meat-free ads means one thing: it's Lent. Well, almost. It starts tomorrow.

After sort of giving up alcohol last year (I gave it up, but really just used Lent as an excuse for not drinking because I hadn't revealed my pregnancy yet), and giving up meat in 2008, I thought I'd try on a new vice to banish. So as of tomorrow, I'm giving up sweets. No cakes, cookies, candies or confections.

Appropriately, I've so far spent my Fat Tuesday eating Oreos and chocolate-covered pretzels.

This is a strange restriction for me. During my college years, I totally lost my sweet tooth. I'm not sure why. I remember going months without eating sweets for no reason other than having absolutely no taste for them. Then, I graduated and started working in an office. And that's when the 3 p.m. sweet tooth set in.

Now, when late-afternoon rolls around and my morning coffee has long worn off, I start scavenging for sweets. Mostly, this scavenging takes places in my cube mate's desk drawer. When the drawer's offerings aren't up to my standards, I try the kitchen on the off-chance that there are leftover cookies from a client meeting, or one of our many fabulous home bakers brought in some goodies. When all those options bear no fruit, I usually give up. Although on occasion, I hit up the vending machines or convenience store for my fix (typically, peanut M&Ms).

I still haven't worked out the exact restrictions. Can I have a fruity cocktail? O how about pancakes if I don't use syrup? And what about jelly? I don't know. Guess I'll figure it out along the way (i.e. justify that something isn't technically a "sweet," eat it, and then feel guilty....have I mentioned that I'm not Catholic?)

Will blog again

I promise. I'm just insanely busy these days. Real life is getting in the way of my social media life right now. Stupid un-digitized reality.

I want to hug this reviewer

I had no plans whatsoever to see Transformers 2 anyway, but the first paragraph of Roger Ebert's review is a thing of beauty:

"'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a dog-like robot humping the leg of the heroine. Such are the meager joys. If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination."

Read the rest of the review here.

A new niece and a belly

Sorry this took a few days, but here are some pics of my new niece, Lucinda Joy. She was born on Sunday at 7:33 am. 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and 19 inches long.

From My pictures

She looks a lot like her big brother Jack. Check out his birthday pics here.

From My picture

The happy family

From My pictures

Lucy, doing her best Mr. Burns impression. Excellent.

And because a few folks have asked, here's me showing off the bump.

From My pictures

It's sort of a weird pic. I think I was moving or something.

Snuggie Update!

The Snuggie Pub Crawl has been moved to April 18! So, I might be able to go after all. Now I just need to get a Snuggie.

Speaking of, my parents now own a set. They're the burgundy variety, which my mom says she plans to hold on to in case Hale-Bopp ever circles the Earth again.

Slow zone

So the SuperBowl is over. Baseball doesn't start for another two months. And I could care less about the NBA. Welcome to my least-favorite time of the year.

I suppose the NCAA tourney does provide a bright spot, although that's still a month away. At least I have soccer to play every Wednesday.

8 days a week

The hours of my typical day:

10 = working
8 = sleeping
2 = commuting
1 = getting ready for work
1 = preparing, eating dinner
1 = cleaning

That's 23 hours.

I usually spend my 24th hour either watching TV, reading, petting Rosie or all three simultaneously. Instead, I should be doing one or more of the following:

- working out
- more cleaning
- organizing my house/life
- keeping in touch with people
- some sort of craft not related to work

Everyday, I say I'm gonna do one of those things, but instead, I spend my one free hour just chillin'. And then I feel guilty about it.

I think I need a 25th hour. Or maybe I should just sleep less.

Ad rage

There are a few companies whose products I refuse to ever purchase because I hate their commercials so much.

Recently, it's the "Saved by Zero" Toyota commercials. And today, I learned that I'm not alone in my utter hatred of these commercials. According to the Tribune, Toyota says that dealer traffic has increased since these commercials started running. So, I'd like to declare right now that I refuse to buy a Toyota or visit one of their dealerships until I can't remember the tune of that damn song. Nevermind that I'm not all in the market for a new car, but still. I used to be in love with the Toyota Matrix. Now? The love affair is over.

Another irritating commercial maker is Luna. There's the one where the woman talks to her carpet about how much she loves it. Then there's the one where a couple sings and plays guitar to their hard wood floors. Barf.

But the Luna commercial that bothers me the most is the one where they show pictures of all the flood damage that hit the Midwest. That's followed by an announcement that Luna is extending its special financing deals due to all the people who were devastated by the recent flooding. This is followed by a picture of a happy child playing in puddles. And all of this is followed by me yelling obscenities at the TV.

First of all, Luna — along with every other carpet and flooring store — ALWAYS offers special financing. It's like saying, "Did you know that Guitar Center is having a huge sale this weekend?" You can't convince me that this special financing deal is any different than the one you offer for President's Day, or Memorial Day, or Casmir Pulaski Day. So the idea that Luna would attempt to use a legitimately devastating event — hundreds of households having thousands of dollars in damage, as well as losing their belongings, and in some cases, their lives — to not only sell more carpeting, but also try to make themselves look benevolent, is disgusting. People died due to regional flooding this summer, and Luna is trying to capitalize on that. Sick.

Once again, I can safely say that I will never purchase anything from Luna. However, in this case, I'm actually in the market for some carpeting for our stairs. So Luna, you lost a potential customer because your commercials are stupid and annoying and pandering and insulting. You stink.

Why can't all commercials be like Dunkin' Donuts commercials? I heart TMBG.

Linktastic

I've never seen an episode of 90210. Or Party of Five. Or Melrose Place. Or Felicity. Or that one show with Claire Danes I can't remember the name of. I'm not really sure what I was doing during the '90s, but apparently I wasn't watching TV.

If I had been, I would probably find this post from "Anything Said" incredibly hilarious. In fact, it's pretty funny even though I never saw 90210, so for those of you that did, go here.

Then, you should go to New York, steal this puppy, and give it to me.

Then, do me a favor and buy me this refrigerator, this stove, and this dishwasher. And while you're at it, buy me central air and a new furnace, too.

Thanks.

Things making me laugh today

• Seattle has already been eliminated from the playoffs. It's August.
• The E# (Elimination Number -- the combined number of wins by the first place team and losses by the trailing team that would eliminate them from the playoffs) for a few teams: Pittsburgh: 3; Cincinnati: 3; Washington: 4; Kansas City: 10.
• The Cardinals are 10 games back.
• The Yankees are 10.5 games back.
• This post.
  

This is getting ridiculous

For the past two nights, I've had a dream about drinking pop. On Tuesday night, I dreamt I was close to exhaustion, and someone gave me a bottle of soda to revive me. I drank it, and then realized I wasn't supposed to.

Last night, I dreamt that some people at work were going on a Slurpee run to 7/11 (this is a common occurance), and I asked them to bring one back for me, expecting to get the cherry variety. Instead, they brought me a cola slurpee, and I had to decide whether or not to drink it. (I did.)

What the hell? When I gave up meat for Lent, I never once dreamt about wolfing down a cheeseburger. During my alcohol-free days, I never had dreams about boozin'.

Is this normal? Have any of you ever given something up, and then dreamt about it incessessantly?

Back in the day, Mountain Dew used to be part of my identity. Like, Stoner and Mountain Dew were often mentioned in the same sentence. I finally gave that up, but replaced it with other forms of carbonated caffeine.

Perhaps this pop addiction is more deep-rooted in my psyche than I originally thought.

Soda-Free, week one (or maybe that should read "weak one")

So, the soda-free week has been a bit challenging so far. Actually, it's harder than I expected. I really, really want a soda. Right now. I think weekends may be the most difficult.

On week days, it's just the afternoons that are killing me. Especially when I have something salty for lunch. Water just isn't cutting it.

At home, I've been drinking juice diluted with water. It's pretty good, actually. Although, I find that what I miss most about soda is the bubbles. I've thought about buying carbonated water, but I feel like that's not solving the problem. You see, part of why I wanted to quit soda in the first place is because of the pop effect on my recycling bin. As in, it's constantly overflowing with cans. Even though I recycle, I'm still creating a lot of waste. Which is also the reason I don't buy bottled water. I need to just be OK with tap water, or in the case of the office, H20 from the water cooler. So, switching to carbonated water really doesn't solve that problem.

Another problem: booze. I am a huge, huge 7&7 fan. Pretty hard to keep drinking those when one of those 7s is off limits. I realize that eventually, I'm going to quit this quitting. But I just need to go soda-free long enough that I'm no longer addicted. Not sure how long that'll take. Long enough that I don't think about a cold can of bubbly a few times a day.

Considering how hard this is, I'm SO glad I never started smoking.

Technical Difficulties

Sorry about the lack o' posts. My home computer is on the fritz, and I try not to do too much blogging from work. Although, obviously, that's exactly what I'm doing right now.

Gotta run — I hear there's leftover donuts in the break room. Ah, the office life.

Annoy Your Neighbors at Work Day

Today is take your kid to work day. Although I'm all for this type of enrichment for America's youth, my appreciation ends when those kids are in the office above me, running around, screaming, and making the ceiling shake.

And who the hell decided to give them whistles????

Things I don't understand today

- People who say they don't like curry.

- Why it's snowing and sleeting at the end of March.

- How they get so much freaking flavor into Jelly Bellies.

- Why some dudes will eat Chinese food, but think Thai food is froo-froo.

- How UConn lost in the first round.

- People who have everything they could ever want in life, yet still find shit to complain about.

- Why I ever liked Steve Miller Band.

- Nougat.

Progress Report

Last October, I made an early New-Year’s-Resolutions list. Now that it's December, I thought I’d assess how I did. Overall, pretty bad on the important stuff, OK elsewhere. Let’s take a look.

To Do in 2007:

1. Start freelancing.
Totally didn’t happen. Not even remotely. This resolution did push me toward setting up my own Web site though, which ultimately helped me land a new job, so let’s just say I broke even.

2. Keep working out. (Number of times I’ve been to the gym since saying “I Do” – zero.)
This area tends to come and go. I’ll get all gung-ho and work out a ton. Then I’ll take six weeks off.

3. Eat more vegetables. Except asparagus, because no matter how many different ways Chris prepares it, even served cold in an awesome strawberry salad, asparagus is still gross. Sorry.
I’m still having trouble seeing beyond carrots, broccoli, green peppers, lettuce and veggies not covered in cheese. Does hummus count?

4. Speaking of eating, try to go out to some new restaurants other the same two every month.
Done and done. Some of my favorites from the past year include Coco Pazzo, Carnivale, Think, Spring, Le Lan, Ras Dashen and Nobu (Las Vegas). Unfortunately, I didn’t pay much attention to item No. 5

5. However, don’t blow a bunch of cash on dining out, either. Save money and put it into…
I didn’t save squat or….

6. A condo fund. Start one so you can buy one someday.
Start squat.

7. Do something musical. Take out your trumpet and join a municipal band, or buy an electronic piano. Music used to be your one constant in life. So don’t forget your roots.
My new apartment came with a piano. However, I don’t play nearly enough.

8. Speaking of your roots, try to go to church more often. Yeah, the Protestants might not totally jive with your current lifestyle, but it’s nice to believe in something, even if you don’t agree with everything.
Didn’t happen. Motivating myself to try new things on Sunday mornings is difficult, apparently even when my eternal salvation in on the line.

9. Spend more time with the baby.
I sort of did this one. Rosie went on vacation with us to Michigan (which, for Rosie, included three sun-filled days swimming in Lake Michigan, running up and down the beach, and attempting to chase kayaks and speedboats) Missouri and North Carolina (which included a stop at a national park in Kentucky just to take her hiking), and we took her to the dog beach a few times. But overall, our quality Rosie time has taken a major hit since we moved to a place featuring a back yard. She used to get two to three walks a day. Now we just let her out the back door intermittently throughout the morning and night. So, although she gets some exercise patrolling the back yard, we now spend less time with her. Before we moved, I used to think that she got so excited when we came home because she needed to go out. But now I’ve realized that she also was excited to see us. The first few times we let her out in the new backyard, she would just stand at the door looking at us, all “Hey, aren’t you coming with?” If there was such as a thing as doggie DCFS, they would totally be knocking on our door.

10. Start baking bread because it makes the husband happy.
Totally did this one. But I’ve cut back because the ingredients are more expensive than a loaf.

11. Be more social. Make new friends but keep the old, and all that.
This one also falls into the “sorta” category. By getting a new job, my former co-workers are now friends. But outside of work, I still really struggle to be social.

12. Lose weight.
Since the beginning of 2007, I’ve gained two pounds. See No. 4.

13. Pay off credit card debt.
I’ve paid off 40 percent of my debt. But considering my salary has increased by 60 percent over the past year, that’s not so good. See No. 4.

According to last year's list, I posted the resolutions here so you all could kick my ass in case I slacked off. Seeing as how I haven't had a good ass kicking in a while ... this is all your fault. Geez, no wonder I quit blogging for a few months: you people suck.

*** um, totally kidding. I love you all. Especially You, sitting at your computer, thinking about how much time you've just wasted at work by reading my blog. And You, dude who accidentally found my blog by Googling "doggie DCFS." I totally love you, too. In fact, I'm adding "expressing my love for random weirdos online" to my 2008 resolution list.

Sarah’s Sexiest Men Alive

I’m a day late with this, but look at all the hotness I’ve compiled! Totally worth it.

So, I think this list requires a little disclaimer. My tastes are a bit different than conventional. I’m much more attracted to personality than looks. And I don’t mean to come across all, “I shall see your Brad Pitt and raise you a Holden Caulfield because I’m so freaking deep and self-actualized that sometimes I just spend hours lying in a grass field during rain storms writing in my journal about my deepness until the rain soaks through the paper and the ink bleeds and then I realize that journal writing outside in the rain probably wasn’t a good idea. But you know what, fuck you. I’m deep.”

No, what I mean is, actors in general play so many different roles that it’s impossible to be attracted to all their personalities. Hence, you’ll find a few characters on this list, as opposed to actors. And you’ll find a lot of talk show hosts because, well, I’d like to assume that their quirky personalities isn’t the result of acting, but how they are ALL THE TIME. Like if I ran into one in the grocery store, they would flirt with me, ask me tons of questions about myself and occasionally make self-deprecating yet adorable jokes about themselves.

Which leads me to my first list entry, who is the master of adorable self-deprecating humor: Conan O’Brien.


He has a hilarious talk show, he used to be a writer for SNL and The Simpsons, he’s really tall, and he occasionally gets to hang out with a masturbating bear. In other words, he’s pretty much to perfect man.

In keeping with the talk-show theme, we have Jimmy Kimmel, circa “Win Ben Stein’s Money.”


These were the good years for Jimmy, before the degrading yet sometimes funny “The Man Show” and before starting his own talk show, which I rarely can get through. But back during his Ben Stein days, he was cute, funny and cruel to nerdy contestants. No wonder Sarah Silverman fell for him (who, by the way, would be on Chris’ sexiest women alive list if he were to make one, along with Maya Rudolf, Amy Poehler, Sweet Dee from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and Natalie Portman. This is why I married him).

Taking it old skool, there’s Anthony Kiedis, circa Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a good photo of him back in the day, with his beautiful mane of hair, so we’ll have to settle for this blondie pic, which is pretty cute, too.


I used to have the “Fright Like a Brave’ poster on my ceiling in high school. That would be the poster that features the Peppers in nothing but socks. My room was at the top of the stairs in my parents’ house, so coming up the stairs, the first thing you’d see was that poster. Combined with my GnR posters and giant Trent Reznor poster next to my antique dresser, I’m amazed when I of all the stuff my parents had to deal with back in the day. But hey, at least I got good grades.

Going back to the ’80s, we have two of the sexiest characters of all time: Kevin Dolenz (Andrew McCarthy) in “St. Elmo’s Fire,” and Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) in “Say Anything.”



Both of these choices require very little explanation. Kevin Dolenz was a lovelorn journalist with a coffin in his apartment. Dreamboat! And Lloyd Dobler was … Lloyd Dobler. If you don’t understand, you have no heart. Or a brain. Or my friendship. Go away.

In keeping with the “character = totally hot, actor = eh, sometimes” theme, there’s Chandler Bing during the could-Matthew-Perry-BE-any-more-addicted-to-drugs? years. Sorry folks, he was just so much cuter before he got all pudgy and sober.


The final two on my list are of the talk-show-host variety. First, there’s Anthony Bourdain.


This one took a little while to ferment for me. I was quite intrigued after listening to “Kitchen Confidential,” but it wasn’t until a recent episode of “No Reservations” when I found myself incredibly jealous of his Korean female tour guide that I realized I had a thing for Bourdain.

And finally, there’s Hal Sparks circa Talk Soup.


Before his days on “Queer as Folk,” Hal Sparks kept me company the summer I was home recuperating in college. Everyday, via Talk Soup, Hal would come into my living room, entertain me, make me laugh, and show me only the best, most deplorable moments of Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer so I didn’t actually have to watch them myself. And for that, I am eternally grateful.