Technically, it is the “Sound Side” of Long Island that I will be departing for tomorrow. Is it seriously already time for that long awaited summer vacation that we weren’t even sure that we were going to be able to take this year?
The last time we were there (July of 2007) we had a blast! We are very guilty of taking “stay-cations” and then spending a whole week dusting the house. So, when we actually get the rare opportunity to GO somewhere, it is the ultimate form of relaxation for us. Our last vacation involved lots of reading, walks on the beach collecting sea glass and naps on the super comfy couch out on the screened in Patio.
Of course, this time will be even better. For starters, we are arriving the day BEFORE the 4th of July, whereas last time we arrived ON the 4th in the evening half way through the festivities. True, we will be traveling with a 6 month old, but we will be traveling to a destination full of babysitters (Hello, Grandma, Grandpa, and all those Great Uncles and Aunts - here, hold the baby!). Not only will I be taking my fabulous Canon DSLR camera with us, but I had our new Canon HD Digital Camcorder shipped to NY to make sure it was there waiting for us on Friday (and I got confirmation today that it was delivered!).
While I am excited for this vacation, I am seriously unprepared. I haven’t packed a thing - we need to do some cleaning before we go, too. Fortunately, my company allows us to depart 2 hours earlier than normal the day before a paid holiday… go figure… so I’ll get a bit of a head start on all the laundry and packing I need to do today.
Here are some pictures from our last trip to the beach house:
I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July! I’m not sure that I will be able to post anything remotely, but I will make sure to check out all the updates on Google Reader
by Dancing Phalanges on June 29, 2009 · 3 comments
It is almost impossible to believe, except that I’ve lived every last minute of these last 6 months. Mikey is changing before my very eyes, it seems. He has hit so many milestones recently (sitting up on his own, scooting, face crawling ;). He has his 2 bottom chompers, he’s wearing size 18 months in Carter’s clothing.
by Dancing Phalanges on June 26, 2009 · 5 comments
Yesterday (or maybe it was Wednesday…) I had a revelation.
My favorite movie, hands down, is Father of the Bride:2. When I was preparing for my wedding, I watched Father of the Bride EVERY day while I was putting together favors and making invitations. A short while after I was married, I discovered that there was a sequel to the first. I was immediately enamored with all aspects of the movie. The characters (Steve Martin = Coolest Dad Ever), the plot, and I my heart always ached for their house. Amazing, both in and outside. No, seriously, I just adored the way the home in FOTB was decorated. I had no idea what to call it. It was just cozy, kind of cluttered, lived in - just relaxing. Did I actually consider it for decorating my own home? No. Why? Well - this movie was made in the 90’s. I assumed the style would be considered dated, out of fashion, gone the way of shag carpeting and wood paneling.
So, I struggled. I struggled to find something more modern, something that would be acceptable to HGTV and their interior decorating shows. I found pieces I liked - things I thought looked good together - but more often than not I felt that the overall look of a room was too cold. Yet, over the last 3 years, I’ve watched FOTB2 and just zoned out imagining living in a house like that. Cozy, comfortable, soft, cluttered yet clean - it was my home on screen.
A few weeks ago, a co-worker was discussing her babysitters home. Apparently, her sitter is the poster child for Shabby Chic. Err, what is that, exactly? Thanks to google, about.com and http://silverscreensurroundings.blogspot.com, I was finally able to arrive at the conclusion that the style I loved so much has a name, and as it turns out, that style is HIP!
The greatest thing of all? I have a garage full of boxes full of items that I can use. I can pick up other things at thrift stores… garage sales… it is going to be magnificent!
Here are some inspirational photo’s. I can’t wait to invite you all over!
by Dancing Phalanges on June 25, 2009 · 3 comments
I recently wrote about my in-laws and their decision to finally make the move back to the South East. In a recent trip to South Carolina, they had found a home they wanted, but it was all a matter of when they could sell their home in Arizona. Lets just say the market isn’t exactly hopping right now. So, they put their house on the market, and the last several weekends have been a flurry of open house events in 4 hour bursts. Then, it happened. Someone made an offer, they made a counteroffer, counteroffer was accepted, and then, like that, their house was sold. Within a short amount of time the news was delivered that they had also bought the home in South Carolina they had discovered so many months ago. My initial reaction? Sadness. J? I still don’t think it has hit him yet. Dude - your parent’s aren’t going to be a 45 minute drive away anymore. No more Grandma and Grandpa babysitting. No more hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa at least every other weekend. The only two people I completely trust Mikey with for hours at a time, who I know love him to pieces. Will this ever start sucking any less?
August 7th. I believe that is when they either close on their current house, or close on the new house in South Carolina. They are in New York pretty much for the month of July (We will be up there with them for 1 week).
Over the last 24 hours, other things have been occuring to me. Thanksgiving… Christmas… for the first time, it will be on me to cook a traditional holiday meal. A turkey? Me? I’ve already started bombarding my more experienced friends for hot tips on preparation methods. Did you know a turkey needs to thaw for several days? I assumed overnight was enough time, ha ha ha.
In a way, J’s parent’s leaving is going to force us finally start some of our own traditions. I otherwise might have gone the rest of my life leeching off of other’s annual rituals. We are going to have to decorate our own house for Christmas instead of relying on their all out yuletide display (complete with reindeer :)). When I really think about it, this move will finally motivate me to do all the things that I’ve been wanting to do, but have put off for so long.
Here is to new memories, new traditions, and finally coming into our own!
by Dancing Phalanges on June 20, 2009 · 0 comments
The weeks have been stringing together in a strange way. While the individual days seem long, by the time I get to Friday I find myself asking “Where on earth did the week go?” So, here I am on a Saturday morning, and I’m going to try and make the most of this weekend. I’ve got to make up for all the wasted afternoons in the last two weeks!
First Order of Business? Playlists! I’ve been working on “mix tapes” for both of the boys in my life!
The Mikey Mix
Songs for J
Next?
Coffee, Smoothies, Breakfast Burrito’s, Cleaning House, Smoochin’ on my Chubby Baby, Nature Walks, Pictures Pictures Pictures!
by Dancing Phalanges on June 17, 2009 · 7 comments
3 years ago, yesterday, my grandmother June passed away. She had been battling cancer for several years, and her passing had just as much of an influence on my life as her wisdom and stories did while she was living. After she passed away, I struggled with mourning. I missed her so badly, and of course was upset that I hadn’t made a better effort to spend more time with her in the years that I had her. For a year after her death I wrote letters to her daily, and I still have those letters. Ultimately, that is how I coped. I felt that I was able to remain close to her spirit and in a weird way it seemed like she was still here. It would occur to me out of nowhere that “oh, yeah, June isn’t here anymore.”
On the first anniversary of her passing, I tried to honor her memory by spending a day doing all the things that we loved to do together. I ate at the Coco’s restaurant right outside Scottsdale Fashion Square for breakfast. I then made my way to Tuesday Morning (an awesome store that updates their inventory on Tuesday Morning). I went to her old Apartment building in Scottsdale (McCormick Ranch) and wandered around the grounds, remembering the weekly ritual of bringing my laundry to her while I was in college. We would do laundry, eat lunch or dinner - just talk and watch Judge Judy in her living room. Her apartment had an amazing patio with a beautiful garden, and she made an enemy of at least one of her neighbors by insisting on feeding every bird (dove, duck, quail or otherwise) within a mile radius of her apartment. A little family of ducks waddled up to her patio at the same time every year, and they always brought their babies once they had hatched to enjoy the buffet.
After that I stopped at the Walgreens right near her apartment, picked up a Cadbury bar (the SUPERIOR English Chocolate bar) ate a few pieces of it and wept in my car. There were many other things that I could have done in order to honor the memory of my amazing grandmother, however, that was all I had time for that day.
On the 2nd anniversary of June’s passing, I got my little sister, Mariel, involved in the process. We ate breakfast at the same Coco’s, then went to Tuesday morning, but either she or I had someplace to be after that, so we went our separate ways and that was the end of that year’s memorial.
Yesterday, on the 3rd anniversay of her death, I made a latenight dash to CVS to pick up a prescription, and while I was there I realized what I had forgotten. I picked up a bar of Cadbury chocolate, and then felt immeasurable guilt at having forgotten about the date. This morning… I’m still feeling guilty. I’m thinking it might be necessary to carry out my ritual this weekend. It brings comfort to me to remember the things we did, and to go to the places we went. June was a magnificent person (even if she did tell some tall tales) and I wish Mikey could have known her. I’ll be sure to post about my activities later this week!
by Dancing Phalanges on June 15, 2009 · 0 comments
For a Monday, today wasn’t so bad at all.
The babysitter has been asking for a lot lately. She needs more toys, more diapers, more formula, more stuff. I happily obliged today. In fact, it looked like babies-r-us threw up all over her apartment by the time I was through. Husband is worried that stocking her up on our stuff will inevitably lead to her using our supplies for her grandson. Hmmm. I tend to think it isn’t an issue, especially since her grandson (my next door neighbor’s baby) has his own arsenal of supplies clogging up the apartment. It feels good to not need to stuff the diaper bag to the brim with all of Mikey’s crap. Less diapers = more toys!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this blog, asking myself specifically how I can make it better? Essentially it now serves as my online diary, and I mostly write about my failures at time management. I’d like to expand, explore, en-something else. I started righting down some categories/subjects that I can focus on going forward. The list might help me to write about other things crossing my brain besides “Oh, crap, when am I going to get that done.”
So, ANYWAY, I’m going to go ahead and put some real effort forth into making this a blog worth visiting.
Oh, oh, oh - for all you makeup lovers out there - get over to ELF quickly! Nordstrom’s has bought out the ELF brand, and any makeup with ELF packaging is being sold online for $1.00 each. I purchase 20 items for $20.00, then used coupon code CAROLINA to get 50% off my order (only up to $15.00). With shipping it came out to less than $20.00 - pretty awesome deal, and I LOVE ELF! Go Go Go!
I’ve always been a fairly organized person at the office. Why wouldn’t I be? It is just TOO easy when your office spends ridiculous amounts on oodles of office supplies. I’ve got sticky notes stacked to the ceiling, flag post its by the pound, enough pens and pencils to stock an entire elementary school. Do you need butterfly clips? Oh, I’ve got butterfly clips! Hanging file folders, tabbed folders, dividers, hanging baskets, desk baskets, desk calendars, thumb tacks, tape and EVEN my beloved stapler. (That is MY stapler!)
Alas, since my return to the office (I admit, my half hearted return) I’ve been nothing short of unfocused, disorganized and *gasp* a bit of a slacker. I was holding out hope for so long that I would have been caught in a round of layoffs, that it was hard to be motivated. But, I can only work this way for so long. It is against my nature to not bust my hump while I’m at the office. And, since I’m unwilling to just work overtime to “look good” I really need to spend my 8 hours a day here being productive, which brings me to the title of my post. Working in chaos is next to impossible for me. I have piles of piles on my desk - documents that need to be scanned, filed, shredded - old reports that need to be destroyed. It is simply ridiculous (it doesn’t help that my assistant did get laid off in the last round, and now I’m sharing an assistant with 2 other account managers).
So, I’ve decided to newly recommitt myself to kicking butt and taking names at work. Not only does it help the day go by faster, but I do truly enjoy my job (which is fortunate, since I can’t afford to quit
Yesterday I worked my fingers to the bones for 8 hours straight, and got myself caught up enough on the day to day stuff that I can now dedicate most of my day today to getting organized and catching up on filing, scanning and my beloved shredding, of course. Next on the agenda? Making my workspace more inviting. I spend the bulk of my day during the week here - no reason why it shouldn’t be pleasant! Perhaps I’ll have a water feature installed, or some landscaping put in (aka, desk water fountain and lucky bamboo plant).
How do you stay on top of everything while balancing work and family?
What a busy Sunday for us! I’m busy whipping up a crock pot full of Taco Soup at the moment. Here is a picture and the recipe, if you are interested. This stuff tastes AWESOME!
Taco Soup
2-3 Lbs. of ground beef (Lean)
2 cans black beans
1 can white beans
1 can of red kidney beans
1 lg. 64 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 packet of hidden valley ranch powdered dip mix
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 small can of corn
Brown hamburg and drain fat, add to crock pot then add all other remaining ingredients simmer in crock pot for about 2-3 hours
Make sure you drain all the beans and corn before adding to the pot
do not drain the tomatoes.
Right now I’m busy trying to get laundry done, do meal planning and budgeting, pack a diaper bag, vacuum, and a million other things. But, we have milestones to cover! Not only does Mikey now have 2 bottom teeth fully protruding, he can roll over from his tummy to his back AND from his back to his tummy! He is almost sitting up by himself (still a bit wobbly there) and I imagine crawling can’t be too far off (Yikes!). Here is my precious darling!
