Let Them Eat Cake

New Beginnings

2012-01-18T21:27:00.000-08:00

Emo backstory of my decision to go back to school (for nursing, if ya didn't know).

I can't claim to have a life long dream of being a nurse or anything. I came to the decision to make nursing my new profession first in an emotional drug induced state while having Ava and then logically 8 months later.

When I was having Ava, I felt extremely affected by the nurses who took care of me (and her). The whole time I was thinking what a great job they had and how I would love it. Frankly, I had never stayed in the hospital as an adult so I did not know what nurses really do. I was so surprised mostly by the amount of educating they do with patients, their tough love attitude, and the affect they can make on people's lives, and of course the schedule.

So...I got to thinking that maybe I should do a career change. Then I looked into what I would have to do to make that happen...and I stopped thinking about it. As Ava got older, every weekend reminded me of how much I miss with her when I'm working all day...so, I started thinking about it again and hashed out the logistics. Then I waited until it felt right and made a final decision to go for it.

"It's a long way to go, a hard row to hoe."
That John Lennon lyric always plays in my head when I think about the next few years. If things go perfectly, it will look like this.
-1 year or science pre-reqs...must get 4.0 (taking A&P 1 and 2, chemistry this semester, working
full time, nbd)
-June 2012-apply for 2 nursing schools' accelerated programs
-Jan 2013-hopefully start nursing school
-12-17 months later-finish nursing school

Getting into nursing school is extremely competitive. That makes me nervous, lotta pressure.

What it looks like, feels like to be a non-trad student.
1. Geek Chic glasses make you look like a serious student and have an obvious impact on your
actual intelligence.
2. Northface coat keeps you warm while you walk around campus and run to catch your lightrail
train. It also makes you look Coloradoey.
3. New iPhone 4S shows you have a real job and can afford a new iPhone 4S...except it actually
means nothing since all the kids have them these days. It's a serious upgrade from the orange
Kyrocera phone I had in college. Mostly it's great entertainment during the shortest moment of
downtime (a perfect opportunity to obsessively check facebook or gmail-duh!)
4. Book bag with current place of employment embroidered on it shows company loyalty in the office during the day and makes you look like an uber non-trad in the evening as you roll into class and pull out a brand new five-star notebook and pre-purchased textbook and lab manual. Don't worry, back up pens, kleenex, and snacks fit perfectly in the side pocket....pearl necklace and gyms socks sneak around in the bottom from this bags every other day gym bag duty.
*Upgrade happening in March when "hopefully" I get a surpise red, monogrammed Cambridge
Satchel for my bday.
5. Nalgene keeps you hydrated in a 3.5 hour class.
6. Baby toys in your first day of school pic shows you are definitely a non-trad.

I surprised even myself as I embraced my non-trad position by asking the professor how to be successful in the class, if the tests come from the book or lecture, and what percentage of the class usually get an A, and where I could find a soft copy of the syllabus-you know, to print out and keep track of how many points I need for an A and how points are earned.

Yes, I'm going to be great at college this time too...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2012-01-10T20:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas is so great. We were able to spend a lot of time with our increasingly chaotic families this year. It is wonderful chaos of babies crying, wrapping paper everywhere, noisy baby toys, attempted naps, and happy grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I got to host Christmas with the Gomperts! I went with a frosty natural theme.

Place setting close up.

Following dinner, Lindsey wrangled the kids for the Christmas story reenactment. This is a fun tradition that was part of Marc's childhood as well as mine.

Lots of fun new toys to play with!

We went to Freeburg for Christmas. Life doesn't get much better than this. Marc and I could not get enough of these little precious(es?). I like it best when they're bundled together.

Babies holding babies. It's so hard to get 3 sub 1 year olds to pose nicely for a picture. Doesn't Ava look proud of herself for sitting in that just-her-size chair and holding Margaret (that's Peggy for short, thanks to uncle Jonas).

On Christmas day, lots of family and Shook fam friends came over. There were presents, lots of food, and Ava's 1st 1st birthday party. Included in Mom's awesomely pretty and whimsical Christmas decor this year was the "Angels Having a Party" themed dining room. Christmasy, yet appropriately pink to host a baby girl birthday party. Owning 4 sets of real feather, life-size angel wings would make me really happy.

Smash cake! She's not that into smearing cake.

This was Joney and Erin's last unmarried Christmas. We're all looking forward to the nuptials on June 15, and managed to fit some wedding crafting/wine drinking into the Christmas mix.

A highlight of all highlights was when Santa came! Peggy and Nordoo had a few failed attempts to see Santa, so Santa came to them. Look at Nolie Santa loving his grand babies. Ava was terrified of Nolie Santa, but keeping a yarn pom, and later a cookie in her mouth seemed to help!

Sweet moment during birthday present opening (and a little bit of a cookie tummy, pardon me).

Opening birthday presents and getting one last wear out of her fancy Christmas dress.

Twin love, Lucas and Jamie love, Grandma love.

Finally, an impromptu photo shoot of most of the Schafale girls (we're missing a few, and Ava was napping).

Whew. Time goes so fast. Next year all the babies will be running around, there will be more chaos. I just can't wait.

Happy Birthday, Ava!

2012-01-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

Turning one is a big deal. The idea of a Sugar Plum Fairy party may or may not have been hatched before Ava was even born. Christmas baby+girl baby=you do the math for a party theme.

What better to celebrate a sweet girl's first year of life than tulle, pink, purple, silver ribbon, snowflakes, mice kings, and candy topiaries, with a few nods to the Nutcracker to hold it all together.

Thank goodness Mom was here all week to execute most of the crafting needed for the party vision/watch Ava/drink wine every evening/make and eat cookies with me.

Here's the birthday girl in her Nana-made no-sew tutu. Luckily Baby Gap has a ballerina collection out right now so I was able to find ballet shoe tights, and her onesie with ballerinas on it. Hard to see.

White chocolate cherries with a Cookies and Cream Kiss face, add ears and a crown and you've got a mouse king.

Wooden clothes pins painted as ballerinas, pipe cleaner arms, pearl tiara, tulle skirt.

Desserts on the snow covered counter, yarn poms, snowflakes, ballerinas hanging from above, cookie stand with mice, candy topiaries, cake (made by Mulberries).

After sending the cake shop a picture of a similar cake, I had to go back and forth with them all day while they decided if they could make it. The low probably came when they told me the ruffles in the picture were made of fondant and I had to tell them that Martha Stewart made that cake and managed to do it with buttercream. Oops. All of that aside, I'm so happy with the finished product (they figured out the buttercream).

Some of the food set up

Did I forget to mention the cascade from ceiling to table?

Candy topiaries

Party people

Christmas tree turned Sugar Plum Fairy tree

There were lots of presents and cousins helping open presents...

A pretty birthday crown made by moi-a newly formed Marc Gompert family birthday tradition, a lazy eye from Marc in the only picture of the 3 of us (hehe, Marc)...

Most importantly, there were Nanas loving on this sweet girl...

Grandparents holding baby girl cousins...

Lots of good friends...

More good friends...

Tutu bottoms...

Big girl steps...

And at the end of the day, a very happy little one year old Sugar Plum Fairy, properly spoiled on her big day!

What's Been Going On Lately?

2011-12-05T19:54:00.001-08:00

A lot. I'm going to recap it all for you right here.

In November, Ava and I went to St. Louis to visit Lucas and Jamie's new twin baby girls! Let me tell you...two babies are four times as sweet as one. Margaret and Nora could not be more precious! Marc and I can't wait to see them at Christmas!

Jonas, Erin and I all helped give the girls their bath. Here's Jamie making being a new mommy of twins look easy. That's Nora girl getting her hair brushed.

Their daddy helped with bathtime too.

Here's Margaret all wet. They will both have the prettiest blue eyes, just like their parents.

Ava looked like a giant compared the them. These girls are growing so fast and already weigh over 8 pounds!

Awww. In between all the baby loving we had a good time planning Jonas and Erin's wedding-over a few glasses of wine, visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma Shook, Kathy, and eating lots of dad's cooking.

We had a great Thanksgiving in Nebraska with Marc's parents.

Ava has a few "party tricks" now. The one she's doing below is indian girl. I taught her to ay ay ay ay ay like a little indian...specifically for Thanksgiving. She did me proud.

I made head dresses for every one. It was important that Ava had a head dress on her first Thanksgiving, and why should she have to wear one alone? It was fun, I'll probably do it again next year...or maybe I'll figure out how to make pilgrim hats.

After lunch we took a walk and paparazzi mom came out (again). Can't help myself. Can you see 2 teeth on top...there are actually 4 on top now. That's the reason somebody didn't sleep all Thanksgiving weekend. Actually, a lot of somebodies if you count Marc and me who took turns staying up with a fussy teether.

So, it's been busy lately with a lot of baby time, family time, up at night time (thought we were done with that!), holiday time, it's all a good time.

Baby Daddy

2011-11-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

Ava and I are both very lucky to have a wonderful daddies.

I could just go on and on about childhood memories with my dad-coaching my softball team, taking me to pitching lessons, teaching me how to show goats for 4-H (holding Daisy's head nice and high in the pic below), showing me how good the crunchies at the bottom of pan-fried meat are (definitely do judge me), teaching me that garlic, butter, and salt are necessary in any dish, making my high school friends and me toast with butter AND peanut butter, never calling anyone by their name (Jordan=Taylor, Marc=Schnuckums or Marc with a C), a birthday call every year from "the president" saying birthdays are cancelled, giving the best speech at my wedding reception, telling me I'm just building character when things don't go right. Like I said, I could go on and on.

Fam-Never noticed Caddie at the edge of the woods behind me!! I think it's Cadums, right?

A few nights ago I was downstairs listening to Marc upstairs with Ava. He was brushing her hair saying, "you're so pretty with your hair brushed, you're such a big girl with your hair parted so pretty." I was beside myself in the best possible way listening to that precious moment.

Marc notoriously did not want a baby girl. "Can a girl throw a football?" "Can she wear hoodies?" "Ugh, the teenage years!" I don't think he's looked back since the moment she was born. These two are in their own little daddy-daughter club that is the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Daddies do fun things like put you on their shoulders to look around while mommies run around trying to take decent pictures, find just the right pumpkin, keep white tights clean in a muddy field, keep both shoes on, keep the flower in the right place on the headband, wipe a runny nose, think about what to have for lunch, make things overly complicated, find a bathroom.

Daddys buy you fun pajamas with glow in the dark skeletons and candy tummies for Halloween.

Daddies love to get you dressed up in their favorite team's colors and logos to watch games together. They scour the internet to find infant sized gear for you.

Mommies makes sure there are ruffles on the bottom of your game day bloomers and your team outfit is coordinated and properly girly....they also make sure that when the game gets close you are fed and have a clean bottom. Sometimes big games make even the best daddies forget things like that.

Crossfit Update-Month 1

2011-11-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since my first crossfit post. How many burpees, pull ups, squats, 400m runs have I done in the last month? I cannot say...a lot.

I've been going at least 3x per week, sometimes 4. I've also snuck into Bally's a few times for a pure cardio session on the stair climber-you know, the one with real stairs. I love that thing.

I won't be entering a bikini contest anytime soon, but overall I'm happy with the results after a month. I have been eating really well, except on the weekend. KBG will appreciate that I made a 9x13 of 7 layer dip a few weekends ago and managed to eat the entire thing over 2 days. There has also been chili, lots of chili (involving lots of cheese!). On a snowy day, what are you supposed to do?

Crossfit is definitely not for everyone. I have bruises on my legs and after days where we jump rope I always have welts on my arms. Workouts are a race with everyone else in the class and I almost alway finish last. The other people are ridiculously fit and complete fitness snobs. Example: they wear shirts that have a picture of a girl on a treadmill with the word FAIL. They drink protein shakes and take tons of fish oil, they don't eat carbs. They have 6 packs...all of them (except me, see below).

Let me outline this evening's workout as an example of what goes down over an hour:

-Stretching + 300m brisk jog

-Pre-workout workout

1. 20 pass throughs=a full P.E. sit up with soft 8lb ball overhead, throw ball to partner when coming up

from sit up

2. throw a 20lb ball over your head backwards across the room

3. with 20lb ball locked overhead lunge back across the room

*repeat 3 times

-Now we're ready for the REAL workout!

All workouts are "for time" in one way or another. Most are complete as quickly as possible. Like this

one tonight:

For time:

-50 burpees (chest must hit ground, clap must be over head with feet off the ground)

-100 ball slams (20 lb ball starts over head, bend down and slam at heels, pick up bounce, back up

overhead). This turns out to be hard to do 100x.

-150 squats (butt must be BELOW knees)

I mean, it's not easy.

I lost an inch off my butt, inch from my stomach, and .5 from my thighs, and 4 lbs. Overall, I things are much more toned than before and I'm feeling good.

Here's a low cal, low carb cheers to all of you who are also putting in your hours at the gym and staying healthy. I know most of us are thinking about it almost all the time (because we've all talked about it together a million times). :)

I may never have a waist again. My stomach may alway look like a biggest loser contestant's post weight loss (know what I mean...what happened to my skin??). I got this little 10 month old out of it and that makes me really happy! 4 teeth!

Making Harvest Dreams Come True (in the suburbs)

2011-10-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad came to visit last weekend! We took Ava to the pumpkin patch on a perfect, sunny fall day.

She's at a really curious age so we had a hard time getting many pictures where she's not investigating or chewing on something!

Family pic.

Proud grandparents!

Right shoe missing. Haha.

Good looking husband.

Picturesque pumpkin field.

Fall is the best!

Twins!

2011-10-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

The only thing sweeter than a baby girl is...TWO BABY GIRLS!

On Oct.3, Jamie and Lucas' baby girls decided it was time to be born. Jamie was 33 weeks so the babies are old enough to breathe on their own and are healthy as can be! They are staying in the NICU for a few weeks.

Don't they look like the most precious little dolls sleeping so sweetly?

Isn't it so cute that Margaret (left) has dark hair like Lucas and Nora has light hair like Jamie (right)?

Don't you wonder how tiny they seem in real life since they're 4lb 5oz and 4lb 10oz?

Don't you wish there was a picture of the twins with their mommy and daddy?

Don't you want to kiss that tiny face?

Can you see how small her head is compared to Dad's hand?
Don't you want to pull that blanket down so you can see her baby tummy (you KNOW you do!)?
That's sleepy little Margaret, just growing and getting stronger every hour!

Doesn't Nora have the most perfect little nose?

Don't her little kissy lips make you smile?

Doesn't she look so peaceful and sweet?

Don't you want to reach in and grab her?!!

Doesn't this just make you think about what a miracle it is when babies are perfect and healthy, even when they're born 7 weeks early?

Congratulations, Lucas and Jamie! I can't wait to come meet these most precious girls!

We're All Friends Here, Right?

2011-10-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

...if not, stop reading my blog.

I just love a before and after, don't you? I'm going to a very public before and after here. I hope you don't find it obnoxious. I really went back and forth about putting it on the blog, but then thought it's my blog and I'll do whatever I want. I guess this is mostly for me, but I'll definitely work harder if I know I have to report back every month.

What is it before and after you ask? Crossfit. Have you heard of it? I just joined. It's the new workout fad that is actually legit. Google it if you haven't heard about it...pretty intense. It's a fitness regime that was designed for police, fire, military and has gone mainstream. It includes olympic lifting, gymnastics, running in different combinations that will take you to the edge of passing out every time. That's why I like it. It's supposed to be "functional fitness" that will enable you to do anything you need to in real life...you get in a car wreck and have to push the door open, no problem...you need to carry your 50 lb kid for a mile, no problem...you need to haul bags of mulch from your front yard to your back yard, easy.

Now, I lost the baby weight long ago and have gained some of it back. I will say that even with all the weight off and in pretty good running shape-like in April-things weren't as they once were and still aren't. I started a new job at my company and it has been extremely busy and stressful leaving me with no energy for they gym. Now that I'm used to operating at that level, I'm back at it.

I joined Crossfit for 6 months and I have no idea what kind of results to expect. Everyone that goes to my gym is ripped up. I'm not expecting to reveal a crazy 6 pack in 6 months, but I think I'll be decently happy with the results (why else would I go). I should also say that I'm not participating in the Paleo diet that Crossfit pushes. I generally try to eat "whole" and healthy though. No way I'll commit to completely cutting out the occasional plate of nachos, beer, brownies, pizza.

So here's the before pictures. They're terrible pictures, too bright-sorry sorry.

This is about as bad as it gets. No make up, shirt up. Don't judge.

Familiar side shot from my maternity days only this shows the after effects of that pregnancy...will my stomach ever be the same?

I'm going to post every month and let you know the following:

-weight lost/gained

-new pics!

-Stats that only I care about (below). Documentation for myself.

The beginning:

-Weight gained/lost-0

-Inches gained/lost

-Waist

-thigh

-butt

-Can complete:

-1 off-knee pushup

-0 pull ups

-85 lb deadlift

-8 lb kettle bell snatch

-training bar squat snatch

-training bar hanging snatch

Ok, that's all on that. Will provide and update next month!

Brunch

2011-09-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend Marc was out of town at a football game, so Ava and I had a girls' weekend starting with brunch on Saturday.

Brunch is my favorite mostly because you can eat and drink pretty much whatever you want. I kept this one pretty casual with Bloody Marys and Mimosas, baguette and cheese, artichoke jalepeno dip, quiche, grapes.

Quiche is so delicious and easy to make. I've really been missing out. This was my first one ever, and it turned out great!

The start of a good day.

Ryan and Liz, enjoying. Ryan helped me sort out a design dilemma in my living room. I'm in the middle of a few living room changes, pics to come when I've finished all of the projects!
Can't you just see the baby love in Lisa's pretty face?

Thanks for coming, friends!

Vacations Are Fun, Necessary

2011-09-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

You know, I have mother guilt just as bad as the next gal, but one thing that doesn't take my mother guilt meter over the top is going on a nice vacation.

Marc and I went to Playa Del Carment for his dirty 30 for 4 nights, and it was awesome! We really just had the best time. We're so lucky Ava's grandma and grandpa Gompert were happy to come and play with her while we were gone!!

Lately we're both way too stressed at work, and of course busy loving that baby. We have a busy but wonderful life, but sometimes we need a break...preferably in a different country, and in this case at a luxury all inclusive. Don't mind if I do.

The first night went like this-we arrived at the resort around 5pm and went straight to the beach bar, made a friend from Denver(Lisa Cotter's future boyfriend), dinner we hardly remember (ohhh boy), met back up with Lisa's boyfriend and the wedding party he was with, shots with the bride, dance party, room service nachos, wake up with guac in the bed. Perfect.

I woke up the morning of our first day (next to guac) to this beautiful sunrise. Then I checked my work email shhhh.

Then I forgot all about work email.

Pool time.

Pretty lobby.

Awesome beach by day...

and night. We love the beach at night. Maybe that's because it takes us back to our crazy camping on the beach college days in Hawaii, I don't know. We had the best time hanging out at the beach a little every night (and watching Lisa's boyfriend shimmy up a tree and get a coconut-see Lisa, he's a good provider).

Can you think of a better way to end your 20s?

Baby Photo Shoots Are Funny, End in Crying

2011-09-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from May, but this is still kind of funny.

Oh look, a flower!

I'm smiling, but I'm tired.

This is gonna get ugly.

Seriously Mom, I'm done here.

Big yawn!

Bigger yawn!

Rub those baby eyes.

Melt down.

Sorry about the snot.

Nasty to Nice

2011-08-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find a picture, though I'm sure there is one, of the nasty old bathroom in our laundry room. I'll just describe it to you: cinder block shower, concrete walls, painted cement floor, nasty sink. We had been talking about fixing it up just to make it not gross.

Then I went out of town one weekend and came home to something like this.

Marc made the executive decision to completely demo the bathroom and start fresh. It was the right thing to do in the long run...though I'll admit there might have been some yelling about the amount of time being spent working downstairs. New baby+bathroom reno=yelling (at my house anyway).

Marc did almost all of the work by himself. It's probably his biggest undertaking so far! He grew very attached to working on the bathroom (he's into stuff like this) and sometimes after he had been downstairs all evening "working on the bathroom" I would go see what he had accomplished and he hadn't made any progress..he would say things like, I tried to find my Dremel, or I thought about where to put the toilet. These things take hours. We laugh about that now, so it's ok to talk about it.

Anyway, from the photos above, to the photos below. It turned out so well! We consider it the guest bath even though it's downstairs.

Requisite detail shot-shower tile.

Tiled shower! New window!

We (Marc) did a good job of remembering this is our basement bathroom so the furnishings don't have to be the best. We did it pretty cheap, but it looks great! I haven't really decorated yet, just got the linens in place.

And there you have it. If you come visit, this is what you have to look forward to! Yay for Marc! Thanks for being so handy, honey:).

Happy Times!

2011-08-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's a great time in the Shook fam right now with so much happy news!
Mom and Dad finished their pool!
Mom is turning 50!
Jonas and Erin are engaged!
Margaret and Nora are due in 3 months!
Ava is really cute and sweet!
Marc is turning 30!

At the beginning of August we all convened at the pool for the weekend to celebrate Mom's upcoming birthday and enjoy all of the good news we've been enjoying lately.

The bride to be showing off that bling.

We spent the whole weekend the beautiful new pool! Where else would you want to be during August in the midwest?

Looking out of the pool you can see wildlife down the hill toward the lake. Dad has been enjoying watching these two little fawns grow up and eat pears right off the tree. He has named them Heckle and Jeckle.

Lovely pool right on the edge of the woods.

View from the pool down to the lake. The weather has to cool down before grass can be planted at the top of the retaining wall and around the end.

Mom didn't want a big surprise for her birthday, but we wanted to do something fun! We ended up having her favorite Mexican restaurant cater and we set up a fiesta (in one hour while Dad had her out of the house).

She was surprised and excited, and glad there weren't 100 people there waiting to surprise her. Dad got in on the birthday gifts too since they were in Europe for his bday. Here he is receiving a gift.

Proud new pool owners, orally fixated baby, Marc not smiling.

Baby swimsuit model.

Up, Up and Away!

2011-08-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

When Marc's Grandma turned 80 in February, her wish was to ride in a hot air balloon. At the end of July the family made her wish come true by giving her a belated birthday hot air balloon ride. Conveniently, hot air balloons take off from cousin Becky and Ryan's back yard in Eagle. They were very nice to host several family members in their new house, while the rest stayed with Marc's other cousins in their new house!

The whole fam watched the lift off-at 6:30AM.

A happy birthday sign was made to be seen from the air.

Grandma and Grandpa loaded up and they were off! They had a great time and a pretty view of the surrounding mountains from the air.

Following the lift off there was breakfast and mimosas, a day of family fun at Becky and Ryan's lovely mountain home. There were plenty of babies to go around. Ava had fun standing up like a big girl playing at a water table.

I also caught this precious little face-looking up at daddy.

There was lots of time for grandparents to get a fill of grandkids.

And lots of time to hold new babies! Yes, I did cut my hair. It typically looks better and a little longer than it does below. I really like it and it's SO easy. I guess that's why they call it a mom cut, although I like to think of it as edgy.

Eagle was so beautiful that we talked about moving there all the way home. I could see it happening. It was a really picturesque weekend and full of family fun. A big thanks to Becky and Ryan (parents for the second time to new baby Cody, so probably not spending time reading blogs), and cousins Jeff and Lourra for hosting!

Baby (Food) Making

2011-08-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

**formatting on blogger drives me CRAZY. Sorry for all the spaces.
I'm not a crazy, organic, yoga, green tea, Whole Foods, Denver mom or anything (there are plenty of those already)...but I do make Ava's baby food.

Note: I'm into crazy, organic, yoga, green tea, Whole Foods in moderation.

I had already decided before Ava was born that I would make her baby food. When she turned 6 months I got started. Because she was a little older when she started solids, she took to them right away! She's been a good eater since day 1. You're not surprised, you've seen her thighs :).

This is the face of a satisfied customer after enjoying yummy carrots. If you're interested, continue reading as I detail my baby food making process. It's quite simple and fairly quick. Ava eats pretty much whatever now. I try to give her a variety of fruits and vegs through the week. Normally I go to Costco and get a bunch of fresh and frozen produce, whatever looks good that day.

A lot of times I will add rice or oatmeal cereal, and/or full fat plain yogurt, and/or formula or breast milk (until that ended, BOO) to the fruit mixes I make.

Here are some of the "recipes" Ava likes right now:

apricots+banana+rice cereal

peaches+banana+oatmeal+yogurt

blueberries+apples
blueberries+yogurt+old fashioned oatmeal

I also make apple sauce. Her very favorite food is by far the avocado which requires basically no prep at all.

Step one of baby food making is steaming. The only thing I've made her that I haven't steamed is blueberries, avocado, banana, peaches. I use a steamer basket it a big pot.
When food is soft, blend.
Then I put it in ice cube trays and freeze it. When it's frozen I put it in a big zip lock freezer bag.

I send it to daycare frozen in little individual tupperware.

Good news (Katie G.)! These Anthro bowls are just the right size for heating and serving baby food! You know, just fostering good taste in houseware at a young age.

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

2011-07-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

First of all, look at this happy baby...that little face, fat tummy, chubby thighs. We just eat her up.

A few weeks ago, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit! They had been to visit us before but had never been to our house. We had a fun weekend of visiting, playing cards, eating ice cream, and going to the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Here's Gma and Gpa at the gardens.

Ava was showing off all weekend by smiling almost constantly and being the the best baby.

She's been working on crawling. Apparently she has crawled at day care, and has even come home with her knees raw. We've seen a few bear crawls but nothing serious.

Time Flies

2011-07-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Do you want to know want to know why I haven't blogged lately? It's because our internet has been on the fritz. The last thing I want to do after working in front of a computer all day is fight internet connectivity at home. It's working right now, maybe it will last 10 minutes?

Ava is almost 7 months old. I can't believe she's that old. I don't even know what else to say-where did the time go?

Here she is looking sweet sitting in front of the garden for her 6mo pics.

Ava and I have beento a few of Marc's softball games lately. I love this picture of the two of them after a game a few weeks ago. Her little eyes peeking out above his hat must be the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

At the beginning of July I went to St. Louis and dropped Ava off with her Nana and Noly, and then I went to Louisville for the wedding of my good friend Sarah who I met in college. It was such a beautiful wedding, reception, and weekend. Her reception was held in the prettiest garden I've ever been to, and it was tons of fun. Sarah and Jay are a good looking couple, but I have to say all eyes were on her because she was a beautiful bride.

The weekend allowed some time for my college group to spend some time together.

Highlights include:

-Meeting Sarah's 3 week old baby (Mercedes), her husband (Rosendo), and her (really pretty) house

-Sharing a hotel room with Jordan, just like old times :). We had the funniest conversation one night-remember, J? It's not blog appropriate.

-Hilton Garden Inn after party with Ashley and her sweet husband Kyle who I just met for the first time. Kyle, I talked to my parents, you are welcome at their house anytime. I told my dad that I told you there's always something to kill, and I believe his response was, "If it's brown, it's down."

-Watching Brittany and Jay breaking it down on the dance floor at the reception...words cannot describe. Oh, and meeting her husband Sam and the reception post party at their pretty house (and crunch wrap supremes).

-And of course, being with Sarah during her wedding festivities as she gracefully went through the emotions of the very recent death of her little brother. There was a perfect balance of remembrance and celebration during all of the wedding events.

Top picture is "strike your favorite dance move" taken in college.

Bottom picture is the attempted reproduction at Sarah and Jay's wedding.

While I was away, Matt and Lindsey's tiny little girl, Madelyn Claire was born! I've only spent one evening with her and I can't wait to go visit her again! It's hard to believe Ava was ever as small as her. I'm just sure they'll be best friends.

Weekend BBQ

2011-06-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had a few friends over for a little bbq this weekend. The weather was perfect and we had a great time enjoying delicious summer food and watching babies play.

This is what we had for dinner. Marc grilled hamburgers, Lisa brought yummy orzo salad, Tim and Lisa brought a delicious mix of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, avocado, corn, with lime juice and olive oil dressing, and salt and vinegar chips. YUM. I guess I just contributed chips...oh, and brownies for dessert!Edan came over looking his best in a cute green romper. Ava went with the sailor look, showing her patriotism.

Nobody loves babies more than Lisa! She was in heaven between both babies and the Delilah the three legged dog she was dog sitting. When a squirrel tried to jump over the fence we all learned how fast three legged dogs can run!

Thanks for coming over! Let's get together lots this summer!

PIT

2011-06-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Ava and I flew to Pittsburgh to see my cousin Ashley marry Chris! Tickets were not cheap so it was just the two of us, and it was an airport adventure (as flying with a baby always is).

Before sharing the details of the trip, I want to tell you about the shameless things I did while traveling, and then while I was there. You think you'll never be "that" person, but it turns out sometimes you are.

-Allowed several helpful strangers to hold Ava while I held up the DIA and PIT security lines trying to collapse the stupid stroller. Why won't it ever collapse??

-Dropped a pacifier on the tile floor in security line, cleaned it with my mouth, gave it back to Ava. Really gross.

-Pumped out in the open in the regular bathroom because there wasn't a family bathroom. I was cutting my time a little close when I started pumping so I was already stressed, then Ava started crying because she was hungry, and then they started paging me in the terminal. Sooooo that was a good 10 minutes.

-Changed Ava's diaper on the tray table because the guy on the outside of my row was passed out. I did put something over the tray table, but I'm just saying, those tables probably aren't that clean.

-Used the bathroom on the plane with Ava on my lap. What are you supposed to do??

Shameless.

Now for the trip details! Cousin Ashley and Chris on their wedding day!
I got to spend lots of time with brothers and Dad (Lucas, Dad, Jonas)...
...and with Mom, Jamie and Erin! Doesn't Jamie look great? She's pregnant with TWINS due in November! We're finding out tomorrow if they'll have boy boy, boy girl, or girl girl!
On Sunday Mom, Lucas, Jamie and I drove the hilly PA roads to the Frank Lloyd Wright house, Falling Water. Wright designed the house to sit over a waterfall! Its famous architect, unique design, gorgeous nature reserve property, and the fact that it sits over the waterfall make it a wonderful place to visit. Good thing I'd been before because Ava wasn't allowed in the house. We had a nice time exploring the grounds instead.
It's hard to tell in the picture below, but the stairs lead down into the stream and the waterfall drops off just behind the stairs. Can you imagine having all of those patios to enjoy?
Our bathroom remodel is almost finished! I can't wait to show you!

Hot Topics

2011-05-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have a few hot topics to discuss.

First up, nail shellac. Mom and I had our nails shellacked for mother's day. I got a dark brown and she got a french. Mine was shiny and fresh for two weeks even after I did a lot of gardening (pics to come!). Mom's french lasted longer since she wasn't aggressively clawing at the ground planting rows of annuals. Grow out was a problem with the dark polish...clearly not a problem with the french.

Getting the shellac off took soaking them in 100% acetone for a few minutes and some picking.

Shellac is great. Why didn't someone invent it sooner?

Awhile ago Lisa and I went to the liquor store during lunch, oops. I really can't describe our excitement when we found Skinny Girl Margaritas right there at our local store! Bethenny definitely wiggled her way into my heart during Bethenny Getting Married and Bethenny Ever After. Now I feel like I'm friends with her, Jason, and baby Bryn. Lisa feels the same way, evidenced by the tweet she sent to Bethenny showing her product display at the store. Did she respond, Lisa???

Skinny Girl Margarita is a light marg created by Bethenny. I think it's just lime juice, agave nectar, tequila. It's delicious and low in cals! I'm pretty sure it's going to be my summer drink. Have any of you (non-pregnant) girls tried it?

Baby Jeggings. Ava's CUTE little friend Edan Crews brought her an outfit for Valentine's Day. It was a pretty white eyelet top and jeggings, just precious. Here she is wearing them, trendy girl. Aren't they so cute. They're perfect because they're soft like leggings, but styled like jeans. That Edan has good taste. Yes, I know they're pulled up too high and cutting her in half.

You can also see that I decided obnoxiously large baby flowers are a good idea.

Because everyone loves a naked baby...Taking baths with Ava is fun. I think she pees in the tub but I don't care.

Around the House and Mother's day

2011-05-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

On the very last day of the warm weather tease of a month known as April, I ran the Cherry Creek Sneak. That sucker is 5 miles. It was a kind of cold day and Ava had decided to party all night before my run in the morning (she had her shots that day, poor thing). I beat my goal time, but not my secret goal time. All in all it went ok, and definitely not bad considering I'd only been able to run outside 4 times to prepare.This is a daddy who LOVES his baby girl. You see the construction pencil behind his ear? We've got a little project going on in the basement...

The old bathroom has been ripped out, new bathroom framed, and since this picture was taken the new bathroom has also been dry walled. Marc works on it in all of his "spare" time (he has about as much as I have).
On Mother's Day we had Ava's dedication. It was a nice service and mom and dad came out for it! Marc's parents and Matt were there too. We've been joking that by dedicating her we're giving her to Jesus to take raise (sort of joking, sort of serious). In this picture, I think she's asking the pastor if it will be Jesus who picks her up from daycare everyday. She rewore her Easter dress, she's not a celebrity you know. Sometimes she has to repeat an outfit.
Here we are on Mother's Day. We grilled fajitas and had a gorgeous day in the back yard.
All of the fun made this little puddin' tired so she took a nap in what I thought was the shade. I loved how she was sleeping-her little hand on her forehead like "it's all too much, life is exhausting".
She wore her new sunglasses like a good girl.
She was not in the shade for her nap and she got a little sun :(. It really wasn't that bad, not as bad as it looks in this picture. 4 months old, unbelievable. She discovered her voice this weekend and she's having a great time learning how to use it. Probably the sweetest little noises I've ever heard.

Do or Don't?

2011-04-29T09:38:00.001-07:00

This is a fun little game I'd like to start playing on the blog-Do or Don't. I'm presenting a few controversial items and you can tell me if you think they're a do or don't. Mostly these are things I'm on the fence about. All opinions welcome, no offense intended or taken from comments.

Do or Don't: Giant platform wedges. I'm dipping my toe into this trend this season because I think I like it to a certain extent. I'm having a hard time committing to something as drastic as the example below. What do you think? Do or Don't?

Do or Don't: Tom's. I really hated Toms when they first made their way to the non-coastal states (I'm betting people on the coasts have been wearing them for 2 years by now). Now they're starting to grow on me, especially since they've started using pretty fabrics like shiny grosgrain.

I'm not sure I'm boho cool enough to pull off a pair, but I've heard they're extremely comfortable, and that would make my broken-ball-of-foot happy. Of course, I'm typically much more form over function, which is why I'm on the fence about these. It also seems like they might end up in the same rarely-worn shoe pile as my Sperry's because they're kind of in the same category. What do you think? Do or Don't?

Do or Don't: Giant baby hair bows. This is the most extreme example I could find. I have to tell you that I'm not on the fence about this. I'm into it. I even think the one below isn't that bad. I also love Derby hats and the hats the British Royals proudly wear. I think of this bow as more of a baby spectator hat than a bow. What do you think? Do or Don't?

Do or Don't: Giant flower on baby. I want to think this is ridiculous and do most of the time, but somehow as I was getting ready to write snide remarks about the baby below I started thinking she looked really cute. Again though, I'm thinking of the flower as more of a spectator than a headband. The thing I usually hate about these giant flowers is that they look really cheap like they came out of the Hobby Lobby clearance bin. If I found one in nice fabrics, I'm fairly confident it would end up on Ava's head (poor girl). Maybe you would all think she looked silly, I'm sure her daddy would :). What do you think? Do or Don't?

Please leave your answers in the comments. Do you have something I should poll the audience about? Let me know!

Follow Me on Pinterest!

2011-04-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Pinterest? It's the hot new thing.

Go to pintereste.com and request an account. You'll thank me later.

On pinterest you can create boards and "pin" images from around the web to them. You can create whatever categories of boards you want. No more searching around the web looking for a specific picture of a table setting, wall color, outfit, haircut you really liked. Now you can just pin it to your board.

The other fun thing is that you can follow people. I follow Jordan and get a little newsfeed of her activities on my screen when I log in. It's fun!

Pinterest welcomes stylemakers and commoners alike so you can follow your friends or your favorite blogs.

You should get on today so I can follow you! Once you get your account you can officially follow me, until then, you can see my boards here: www.pinterest.com/sarahgompert

Lately

2011-04-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking of a few pros/cons of no longer being pregnant. Since I have a lot of pregnant readers, I thought I'd share.

Pro: Being able to wear cute clothes
Con: Not getting to wear elastic waist pants (so comfortable!)
Pro: Sauvignon Blanc, Mojitos, Margaritas, Bud Select
Con: Glowing pregnancy skin is replaced by tired mommy face
Con: Thick pregnancy hair is falling out by the fistfull
Pro: No more belly in the way
Pro: Sushi!
Con: due to Ava's sensitive tummy, cannot eat: oatmeal, very much soda, anything spicy (including salsa ughh), milk
Pro: Allowed to get the old heart beating over 140/min=real workouts!

Obviously the best part of not being pregnant is that this little lady is out. She's getting bigger, cuter, sweeter by the day. This is the little face I get to come home to every night.Tell me this isn't the sweetest face. Pardon the drool, runny nose, spit up on cheek. I always think it's gross on other people's kids, but somehow on mine it isn't. I just see those big, happy eyes and want to kiss those chubby little cheeks.
Bath time, girl loves her bath! Is it weird that this is one of my favorite pictures? I was trying to take a pretty picture of her and this was her reaction. It's kind of like a "this is reality" moment.

100 MPH

2011-04-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Why haven't I been blogging? I don't have any time. Going back to worked kind of kicked my butt and I'm just now getting used to the schedule. Basically, I don't have any free time. Daily Schedule: 5:30am-get up, pump, frantically get ready 7:00-4:00-get coffee with lisa, check blogs, email, fb, pump, work, lunch, pump, work, pump, work (that is literally my daily schedule). While I pump I read Water For Elephants on my Kindle. I love the book and the Kindle. 4:30-6:00-workout. That baby weight isn't going to lose itself. I'm going to run the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day. That's a little over 6 miles, I think I've got it. 6:00-8:00-Pump. Love that baby and get as many smiles out of her as possible. I talk in my high pitched mommy voice during this entire time. We sing songs, have tummy time, read books. Marc plays too. Sneak in dinner. 8:00-8:30-Try to hold Ava off until 8:30 for her bedtime bottle. There is usually a lot of crying during this period. 8:30-9ish-Feed Ava her bedtime bottle and put that sweet thing to bed. 9ish-10ish-Pump. Freeze extra milk, clean storage bottles, prepare lunch for next day, wash diapers, try to clean something, pack Ava's daycare bag, pick outfit for next day, make time to have a conversation with Marc. 10ish-go to bed and read our Bible reading...we're reading the whole Bible this year, following a guide. It's a good project to have together and something I've always wanted to do. I think it's a good idea for the religious and non-religious alike given the significance it has in our culture. It's been mostly enjoyable so far. We only have one Bible so I usually read it outloud and Marc mostly stays awake, but sometimes accidentally falls asleep. Now you see why I don't have a lot of time to blog? I'm hoping to get better. For now, I'll do it when I can. Spending time with Ava and Marc is P1 though :).

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2011-01-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

Happy one month birthday, baby Ava! She has really changed a lot in a month.

One of the biggest changes is her hair. She was born with thick, pretty dark hair. Well, that's half way gone now. She's a little old man, totally bald in the front but still lots of hair in the back. I hope the rest falls out soon. (She HATED her one month photo shoot I did with her.) She really did not like being in this basket.

My birthday is coming up and I've decided that I want the LV Neverfull in the largest size and in the print below. I have decent justification...I need a bag big enough to be a purse/diaper bag for quick trips. I just need to be able to throw a few diapers, wipes, change of clothes and a bottle in a bag real quick for short trips like Target, dinner, the mall. I've quickly learned a big diaper bag is unnecessary in most cases, so this seems like a logical solution. Ok, maybe buying a LV diaper bag isn't a LOGICAL solution, but it actually would do the trick for what I need.

This week Ava and I went to a girl's dinner at Liz's house. She wore her cute little blue and white outfit with her pink bow. She looked so cute that baby Edan Crews snuck a kiss at the end of the night. She enjoyed seeing all the girls and the girl talk.

When she's not out being social she enjoys evenings at home just hanging out with mom and dad...especially dad (I think).
We've started the cloth diapers and they're going great so far! She had one potty leak out the leg, but that is due to the diapers still being big on her. I was really worried about poop stains, and after washing my first load there were some stains. However, today I dried a load outside in the sun for a few hours and all of the stains completely disappeared.

The diapering set up is the same in the nursery as it was with disposables except now we have an extra little trash can to throw away the disposable wipes. The diapers get put into a trash can with a lid and then I just take the whole trash bag and dump in in the wash. Easy.

Product Round Up

2011-01-16T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well, after a quick 40(ish) weeks, finally our little Ava was born! Here I am mid contraction around 2am on the 27th. They started around 6pm and finally were 5 minutes apart for a few hours by 2am. We later went to the hospital only to be sent home and told to come back when contractions were stronger and closer together. I thought these were bad enough.

We went back to the hospital around 2pm on the 28th after I had not slept the night of the 27th and contractions had not stopped since they had originally started. I was almost not admitted to the hospital on the 28th, but luckily during the nurse's last check before sending me home, my water broke. Yay!

I went straight upstairs and had the first of 3 epidurals. The first 2 didn't work. Because the baby's heartrate kept dropping and then popping back up, there was talk of a c-section during the entire labor. This meant no popsicles or crushed ice-really disappointing (Lisa, you know how I love crushed ice).

I made it to 9cm dilated by around 7am on the 29th, but the dr. didn't think baby would be coming anytime soon, so we made the call to go with the c-section. At that point I really didn't care. At least I didn't have to push AND have a c-section. Once we made the call, we were in the operating room within 30 minutes and had Ava about 10 minutes later!

Everything since then has been a blur. I finally feel back on my feet after the c-section, and like I have life with a newborn a little bit more figured out (for today, things are different everyday).

Since so many of my readers are pregnant, I thought I would let you know about some of my favorite baby products so far. These are the things we use everyday and love.

Ava was 7.4lbs when she was born. She really only fits into onesies. She has this collection below and wears 1-3 of them a day-no pants. Don't worry, she has others too but she looks extra sweet in these.

Burp Cloths-we have some cute ones, but for everyday we use Gerber Flat Fold Birdseye Cloth Diapers. At anytime in our house you can see at least 3 of these laying around. Of course, when Ava decides to spit up an entire feeding there's never one handy.

I did a lot of research on all of the bigger items below and am happy with all of them. Maybe this will save some of you a few hours of reading product reviews.

1. Pump-Medela Pump in Style. It's really good and I use it all the time. Definitely not a place you want to save money.

2. Car Seat-We have this one and I think it's good. It's really heavy and hard for me to carry. The good thing is that it goes up to 35 lbs so you don't have to buy a new one for awhile.

3. Swing-MamaRoo-I like it because it isn't primary colors, it's small, and connects to an iPod. Ava likes it because it has like 8 different motions to choose from. It's still a little big for her, but she sits in it sometimes.

4. Bouncer-My Little Lamb-I was going to get a small bouncer but ended up getting this one. I'm glad I did since she doesn't fit in her swing quite yet. Ava takes all of her naps in it for now. It vibrates and plays music but we usually just keep it off. It's really light so it gets carried upstairs and downstairs on a daily basis.

This also comes in a swing version. I probably could have just gotten just this swing instead of the swing I have and this bouncer. I like having both though since usually one is upstairs and one is downstairs.

5. Glass Bottles-Lifefactory-Ava usually nurses, but sometimes gets a bottle. Her daddy loves to feed her. I researched bottles forever. I knew I wanted glass and then started reading reviews on all sorts of different bottles. In the end, I got these because they're cute and don't have 15 pieces like the popular Dr. Brown bottles. They are a bottle and a nipple and I think that's really all you need. I'm happy with them. We have 4 small and 4 large.

Look at this little face. We cannot get enough.

This was probably a week and a half ago but seems like much longer. Her little newborn rash is all cleared up now. We think she's just the prettiest and sweetest baby.

Hopefully the Last Pregnant Post

2010-12-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

If I have to take another picture by the countdown wall, I'm going to be upset. Hopefully I don't have to write a 40 on the board. Baby is aware she is welcome to come any time now. Luckily, I'm still feeling great and working. Wednesday will be my last day until after my leave.

Last week. This week. Do you like the little tissue paper lollies I made or are dumb? I needed more yellow in the room, and want the chalk board wall to be more fun. I may put them on a little string and hang them at the top of this wall so they're more orderly. Undecided.
Mom finished the crib skirt and it's PERFECT! I forgot to take a picture of the whole crib, but here's a closeup of the fabric. Good thing Mom will get here tomorrow to see everything together! She hasn't been here since July, so she's only seen the nursery in pictures.

Now on to Christmas Decor.

Dining room shelf. Features bottle brush trees, West Elm garland, shadow box that I didn't even update for Christmas.
This is a card that Mom made the Christmas before our wedding. She made it to look like our wedding with lots of feathers, and added Anticipate since our wedding was just around the corner from Christmas.
Dining room table with antler candle thing that Marc thinks is weird, but I love.
2010 wrapping paper scheme
Evergreen wreath on the front door. It was lovely in it's prime, now it's really dry. I did a bit of decorating. Wreaths aren't as easy to decorate as I thought.

Here's the Christmas tree. Keeping with the newsprint theme, I used an old book to make a paper chain for garland, and a tree topper.
Here's the tree topper. An expert copier, I stole the idea from a blog Katie Green sent me. If I didn't hate making all of those little cones I would have made this 2 sided.
Close up of one of my favorite vintage shiny brights gracing the tree.

I had a few newsprint flowers, so they were added to the tree. You can see the glittered A in the background...I got a bunch of metal numbers and letters from Hobby Lobby, glittered them, and threw them on the tree.
Here's the tree in baby's room with glittered Bebe letters from my shower in Freeburg.

You can't really see in these pictures, but all of my Precious Moments angel ornaments I received every year throughout my childhood are on the tree.

I love this little feather tree, currently on the chest in our bedroom.

Here's a random bonus picture of our bed and the new mirror hung next to it. There's one on the other side too. It's the same formula I used in the guest room, and that's because I like it.

I was experimenting with my new 50mm lens for most of these pictures-I know the lighting and focus are off in some of the pictures. I have to say, investing in a nice camera and learning how to use it is stressful and takes a lot of practice. I do love the new lens though. Its specialty is close ups.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-05T17:08:00.000-08:00

I have been really tired after work. I think it's because of the constant darkness. Pardon my posting intermission.

We had a fun Thanksgiving in Nebraska! A few scenes from the festivities.

Little Mason helping in the kitchen.

Eating inappropriate amounts of dessert with Aunt Nancy and Cousin Amanda.

Some were watching football in the living room while others were having way more fun drinking coffee and playing cards in the dining room.

We came back to Denver on Friday night. Saturday was a really pretty day so I took some pictures of everything that was going on outside.

First, here's a picture of my NEW CAR!!! We bought it 3 weeks ago and I love it. 2010 Nissan Murano. It's the first car I've ever purchased from a dealership. You know I love black cars, I don't care what anyone says. I'm going to do my best to keep it clean (inside and out). We kept the Jetta too. Sometimes it makes me sad to see it sitting in the driveway not being used, but I know it would want me to be happy.

The City of Englewood's water main broke directly in front of our house. This shut down our entire block and the repair took most of the afternoon. The yard in this picture is the neighbor to our left.

Look what the neighbor to the right was doing while this was happening...Just putting up some giant blow up Christmas decor. This wouldn't be so bad except this was the one and only time they have ever been inflated. Now they just lay dead on their lawn. Sometimes I'd like to have an HOA.

Since it was a nice day, the chickens were free ranging in the back. Marc got them a heated water dispenser so their water doesn't freeze. They're laying has slowed down from 0-4 eggs a day to 0-2 eggs a day. Apparently this is normal for the winter.

Inside, I was unpacking Christmas, scheming new ideas for the trees. I finally finished most everything this weekend, so there will be a detailed Christmas post this week sometime. I will tell you that I used an entire old book to make various items. I was inspired by West Elm's newsprint theme Christmas.

Oh yes, and I'm still growing the baby too. Here we are at 36 weeks which is old new because now I'm 37...out of 40! I'm addicted to chocolate chip cookies and ready to get this show on the road. If you look really closely at my shirt you can see that during the day this picture was taken (maybe Tues) I had spilled various things on myself. I think there is a big coffee spot, a water spot, and possibly even a little sweat spot from where my belly button sits against my desk all day-a kind of disgusting reality.

Marc makes a rare blog appearance, and a sneak peak of Christmas decorations. Of course baby has to have a tree too. What is she's born before Christmas? Imagine her dismay if she comes home and doesn't have her very own tree. That's no way to start your life.

Final Touches

2010-11-15T20:02:00.000-08:00

The nursery is almost done, just a few finishing touches going in. I love this new Ikea light over the chair! Baby's closet is filling up with sweet little outfits like this pretty dress from her Nana (Mom has officially decided on Nana, Dad will be Nol=Nana and Nol).

And this frilly Christmas dress from Kiki.
And her fancy fur snow suit, Marc picked it out. Dead serious. Bows on the feet and hood ahhh.

You might be wondering where all of the shower gifts went. There are a lot of big things hiding behind the couch in the basement. Surprise!And a lot of things in her closet. On cloth diapers...final verdict is that it's happening. Here is one of the diapers. Look how thin it is, and it closes with velcro.
These are the kind that have the liners already built in, so it's really just washing the diapers, line drying, and putting back in the drawer. I'm excited to give cloth diapering a try. I can't say my plan is being supported by everyone (including Marc), but I'm not that worried.
The diapers live in this drawer. They look so cute all together.Looking big, but still feeling great. 6 more weeks

Blissful Baby Showers

2010-11-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

Lucky girl that I am, my sweet and talented friends and family threw me two perfect showers.

The first one was in Denver, hosted by Lindsey, Becky, Liz and Lisa.

It was a gorgeous fall day and all of my favorite Denver friends were there. The girls put on a beautiful brunch. I couldn't believe how pretty everything looked.

Liz, her MacBook and floral glue produced these water bottles, which have the same design as the invites. Well done.Pretty and delicious little cupcakes.

Such a pretty table.
Everyone enjoying brunch in the sunny living room. All of the other pictures of the shower are just of me-unflattering present opening pictures mostly. I really wish I had one with all of the hostesses, but Lindsey was playing photographer and the other girls were busy hostessing.

After the shower, we carved a bunch of pumpkins.
Cute little Mason played in the guts, but really didn't want to get too messy.

Fruits of our labor.
Last weekend I went home for a visit and for another shower. My old college gang/roommates

came up from Louisville to celebrate Sarah U's bday, visit Jordan who lives in STL, and to come to my shower. We all had dinner Friday night at Bistro in the Central West End. So. Good. My mom, Jamie, and Jordan threw a really fun and creative shower on Saturday. The theme was French Circus/Baby. It took the whole family helping to put all of these wonderfully cute props and decorations together.

Popcorn! Peanuts! Little boxes that say "ABOUT TO POP."
Mom, Erin and I had a great time decorating Circus animals. Especially not-so-crafty Erin. She ended up getting really into the animals, giving lions pompom saddles and veils.

Jordan did all of the graphics for the shower. Note the Cirque Fare sign. There were lots of cute graphic details all around that she designed.

Jamie, Mom, Erin...too bad Jordan isn't in this one. Thanks for a wonderful shower!

Dad and Lucas, kind of tired from having to help decorate for a shower. And look how cute Belle is, all dressed up for the circus.
Sunroom decorated.

More decorated circus animals. I outfitted a hippos with a tutu. She's hard to see in this picture.

All of my Freeburg friends! I really wish I would have moved that pinwheel.
College friends at shower.

After the shower, Dad lit the fire for the Shook family Apple Butter/driveway bonfire. Lucas, Erin, Jamie and Mom all suited up for the cold...although I think this was taken during their impromptu "wine tasting." I have no pictures of Jonas from the weekend, only one picture of Dad, hardly any pictures of people at the shower, no pictures at the fire or of the apple butter. I need to do a better job taking pictures.
Thank you so much to everyone who made both of my showers so happy, fun and perfect. I do really feel lucky such wonderful friends and family who care so much to make things special and memorable for me. Love you all.

Wanna Get Away?

2010-10-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Voila, our newly appointed guest room.

While Marc was out of town a few weekends ago, I gave this room a 100% makeover. I painted, got new West Elm bedding, new side tables, mirrors, lamps, and moved the curtains from the in from the living room.

I was starting to hate them in the living room but I love them in here. This means new curtains for the living room. They're on back order from West Elm.

Curtains are closed for the evening.
This is an odd angle of the other side of the room. Close up of the artwork.
My sweet friends Lindsey, Lisa, Liz and Becky have been planning my baby shower, being held this weekend. It will be at Matt and Lindsey's house and everyone is very excited! Here is the pretty invitation the girls picked...more details next week.

30 Weeks!

2010-10-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

There are a few interesting things about being pregnant.

1. Gym-I get a lot of funny looks at the gym. I'm never sure if people are impressed that I'm there, or think I'm disgusting. This makes me act like it's no big deal to execute a sweaty workout so I usually try harder. Have you ever tried the stairclimber (and I mean the one that is real stairs) carrying a few, well several, extra lbs? It's tough, but I love (hate) it.

2. Random Compliments-This is really nice. Strangers all over say really nice things to me. It usually makes my day and has taught me the value of a compliment.

3. Obsession-I spend hours reading reviews of baby products trying to decide what will be best. Currently I have a little obsession with glass bottles and cloth diapers (though Marc still isn't in favor). In the past I've obsessed over the swing, stroller, basically every major baby product. Of course I know that the baby won't care.

Good news, as of yesterday the baby has a name! I really wish I could say what it is, but you will have to wait.

30 Weeks, post gym (lovely), getting big

Hanging out in the chair with his favorite outfit. Hopefully the baby doesn't wear her DARE shirt as often as he does :).

My work of art.
And finally the fall scene in the living room.

I completely redecorated the guest room last weekend! I was bored because Marc was out of town and I figured we'd be having a lot of guests in the upcoming months so I wanted to update the room. I love it and will post pictures as soon as I finish one last detail.

3rd Trimester, Wooohooo

2010-10-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

3 more months, not bad, not bad.

This weekend I was a bridesmaid in my friend Debbie's wedding. She was such a pretty bride!

Oh, to be a pregnant bridesmaid.

I got to spend time with lots of good friends at the reception!

I was so busy the entire weekend, but only took pictures at the wedding. It's kind of a bummer because I did lots of other fun things like running around with my mom, going to my cousin's baby shower, seeing my grandma, and dinner with Lucas, Jamie, Mom and Dad.

Back home now, I'm still so tired from being so busy all weekend. There are lots of exciting things going on though!

Here we are at 28 weeks.
Baby got lots of pretty new clothes from Mom and Dad (Nanna and Nol?-names being decided). She had lots of cute sleepers and outfits but no dress clothes. That's not the case anymore. She even got a coming home from the hospital outfit and a "Don't Mess With the Midget" onesie from my highschool.
The chair came in, and I love it. We had to do some rearranging because it's really big (and comfortable!). All of the new furniture is too big for the small room, but I love each of the pieces so it's ok. The blanket on the chair was made by Lindsey's mom, and is so pretty and soft.

This is the angle of the room that I think looks odd, but I don't really know what to do about it. We're tried all different arrangements, suggestions?
Here's a preview of what I'm working on now...a giant 4x4 painting. Hopefully I start/finish it this weekend.

Recent Developments

2010-09-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

We've been busy the past two weekends. There has been a lot of football watching (Marc), and a lot of shopping (me). It's hard to keep enough clothes around for this growing belly. We've also been working on the basement fix-up, nursery, registry. It seems like we're always working on a project or thinking about a project.

Other than that, I spend hours researching purchases we're making. A new vehicle is being researched (baby doesn't want to ride in the Jetta with the bumper held up by fishing line?), cloth diapers vs. disposables, and a big camera purchase that I finally decided on and executed.

After tons of research and interviewing every photographer enthusiast I know, I decided on the Canon 60D. It's pretty awesome, though I don't really know how to operate it yet. Some examples of its work below. Poor images are a result of my very limited skill and knowledge.
Marc is known for wearing his DARE tshirt from 6th grade. He scoured the internet and finally found a DARE onesie and just had to have it so he and the baby can match.

I found a dresser on Craigslist and painted it to be a changing table. I wanted it to be long so I can put other things on it too since there won't be room for any other shelves.

Finally, bump at 27 weeks. I'm not sure why I didn't think to write the weeks on my little chalkboard a long time ago. Oh yeah, and I dyed my hair dark (totally safe) for the fall, and got some full bangs. Theser are my equestrian pants. The shiny part on the inside of my knees is leather. Every guy who sees them thinks they're weird but I love them. They're on sale at JCrew if you need a pair :). They probably look much better on non pregnant/bloated legs.

Back Yard Chickens

2010-09-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

Did you know that we have back yard chickens? Well, we do. They're legal in Englewood, along with pit bulls and really ugly front yards landscaped entirely with rocks.

We really enjoy the chickens and people find them very interesting. At the beginning of April we bought 7 chicks thinking a few of them would die. 2 of them were mysteriously murdered (heads bitten off, but bodies still in the coop). Now we have 5 chickens.

Of course we don't have a rooster because we don't want our neighbors to hate us. Most of the people I work with didn't realize that chickens will lay eggs without a rooster present. They will.

After a few months the chickens started laying eggs. At first they were very small. They're getting bigger now. We get between 0-4 everyday.

Here are the sweet baby chicks in April.

After living inside for their first few weeks of life, they moved outside into the coop that Marc built. The coop is in our garden, still bare in this picture taken at the beginning of May.

Now they look like this. I love the black ones. They're very fancy.

The coop has been painted and it's a cute addition to our yard. We let the chickens free range in the yard most afternoons.

Nursery-Phase I

2010-09-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

We're in the process of turning our office into a nursery. We've never used the office much- mostly we just walk through it because it's one way to get between the living room and kitchen. I'm really excited to have it as a more functional, used room now.

Office Before-we didn't even paint the walls when we moved in.

Other side before
First came paint

My "organized" craft closet. I'm kind of embarrassed to show this, oops.
After relocating all of this mess, Dad and Marc widened the doorway.
I stalked closet systems online and came up with this design. Marc built the whole thing. The white wire baskets at the bottom pull out like drawers. I'm going to put wicker baskets in a few of the cubbies to house little socks and excessively large hair bows and flowers. Baby has more clothes now that she has a pretty new closet. :)
Next we took on quite a painting project creating a geometric design on one wall. We measured, laser leveled, and marked the pattern first then taped the whole thing. That process took around 12 hours of us both working on it. It's not easy to get a whole-wall design straight.
The painting was easy. We used high gloss for contrast.

Voila! We could not be happier!

I painted this small wall with magnetic paint and then chalkboard paint. Now we have a magnetic chalkboard wall.

And this is what the wall says.

More projects are currently underway...updates to come!

Back Up and Running-It's About Time

2010-09-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

I'm getting the blog back up and running for as long as I enjoy it, with posts coming as often as I feel like it. No promises. However, there is quite a lot going on Chez Gompert these days that I need to share with family and friends and I think this is the best place. I'll probably set this as private at some point, sorry if that's a pain.

I'd rather provide pregnancy updates here because I don't think Facebook is an appropriate place to share pictures of my baby belly, although I do really enjoy it when others post pictures of theirs. I certainly do not judge for that, it's just not for me.

FAQs:
-Due December 25
-Girl
-Not telling the name (we're between 2)-25 weeks along
-Feeling great!
-Not craving anything
-Excited!
-Missing the occasional glass of wine (a lot)

Home projects in progress:
-Nursery
-Basement (extent TBD)

Here are some highly demanded bump pics. You'll see baby has been busy traveling all over the world!

Paris-Baby at the top of the Eiffel Tour

Early May

Around 6 Weeks-If you think it's a bump, you're wrong. It's just the French food.

I also broke my foot on this trip resulting in 6 weeks wearing "the boot." My foot still hurts too bad to take long walks or to run.

Vail with my parents
4th of July
15 Weeks
I just love Vail in the summer!

Ft. Myers Beach, FL
August 8
Baby grew a lot this week! Maybe it was all the cookie dough I ate.

Backyard, celebrating the laying of the first egg!
August 28
In the nursery with the crib
August 30
Just a few days after the picture with the chicken
There you have it. I have a hard time finding maternity clothes I like so I only have a few shirts and 4 pairs of pants. Luckily sister in law Lindsey just let me borrow all of hers.

Nursery update and pictures coming later this week!

Mom and Dad's Remodel

2009-10-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

My mom is seriously considering a complete remodel of the house, and has been inspired by Restoration Hardware's departure from Americana to Primitive/Industrial Europe. Thanks RH for FINALLY doing something different and giving us something to be excited about.

Mom has selected several pieces for potential purchase. This is a little game where I try to see if I picked the same ones from the website that she picked.

This little horse is just a bonus. Wouldn't he be cute on a bookshelf?
Impact piece #1, Option A- Balustrade Salvaged Wood Console Table. I love the bottom of this one.Impact Piece #1 Option B - French Industrial Console Table. Love the clean lines and metal legs.

Is it either of these?
Impact Piece #2 - Printmaker's Sideboard. All of those little drawers, adore. I hope this is on the list.
Impact Piece #3 - Wine Barrel 6 Arm Chandelier. I'm pretty sure I nailed this one. This is it, yes? I'd venture to say it will be the piece de resistance of the dining room. Impact Piece #4 - French Upholstered Wing Chair. PLEASE tell me this is on the list...make it two as far as I'm concerned.

How did I do? Did I get any of these right? I can see why you were re-inspired! Love, Love, Love. Please complete pre-Christmas. Merci beaucoup.

Bootcamp

2009-10-26T19:18:00.001-07:00

I'm starting my own personal bootcamp. 4 weeks of 4 workouts per week. If a bootcamp at the gym starts before my 4 weeks is over, I'm allowed to quit my operation and join the real thing. There, now you know, so I have to do it.

Busy Weeks!

2009-10-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

The last week and a half have been BUSY! What have I been up to? Well, I haven't been working out, I'll tell you that.

Look what happened today-SNOW! This is our street this afternoon. When it snows the street feels so peaceful and quiet and always reminds me of a winter movie. I love it.

Last night I went on a sushi date with my two favorite little pups. This picture is funny because the tv makes it look like there are 4 pups (haha).I came into work on Tuesday and Mark was wearing this happy shirt. Love at first sight! Thanks for representing fall perfectly via a shirt, Mark. He struck this pose on his own, work it, work it, work that 8th floor window. p.s. that's the view out of my window at work.

Last Thursday SS hosted a Make-A-Wish fundraiser and raised 15k! Here's my team, fundraising, clearly.

For the team lead donation we decided on a "stock your bar basket." Friend Noah and I went to the store and picked out the goods, including this pretty Absolut bottle. Then I took a cardboard box, and some tissue paper and created this. Pretty proud of myself.
Tuesday we had a little bon voyage happy hour for my boss of 2 years. He's off to the Singapore office and we will miss him!
See why I haven't had time to blog?

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad

2009-10-12T16:57:00.001-07:00

I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel sooooo bad.

1. Getting to see Dad on his way to hunt elk in Steamboat last Thursday...dinner at Fogo de Chao, delicious.

2. Planning a trip here...

...with him. Can you believe how cute this little Marc is?

3. Owning these boots that I was only dreaming of last winter, thanks Mom and
Dad! A few trips to the cobbler later and I can actually zip them, "thanks athletic" calves!

4. Signing up for another bootcamp-love/hate, but thinking about all those squats and pushups somehow makes me happy. Maybe this time I'll actually pass out. I came dangerously close several times during my last bootcamp.

5. Cute houses like this in Vernon, France. I took this picture while riding a bike (pretty impressive) on our way back from touring Monet's house and gardens (pretty impressive).

6. Biking in Versailles, dreaming of Marie Antoinette and all things extravagant, opulent, and excessive, just like Marie. Few places will ever beat Versailles in my book, and few days will beat this awesome day spent biking and piq-niqing avec Mom. "It's gone already? Why did we only get one bottle of wine?? Big mistake." This was shortly after my little trip to the woods. Thanks for having my back, Mom. Couldn't even say I was taking pictures!?

I'm feeling much better. I hope sing Sound of Music songs all day.

***Katie, let me know when you're feeling the need to perform the Sound of Music soundtrack, you know I'm down. It has been awhile.

LA Weekend

2009-10-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to LA for Marc's cousin Joel's wedding. We had a little free time to do some CA exploring. I loved this gorgeous hotel in Santa Monica (the only place around L.A. that was actually nice). That's my opinion.

Here we are in Santa Monica again. We had lunch and then took a little walk to the beach. Marc's Mom, bro, Marc et moi.
The bride and groom are big fans of Celtic music. As a surprise to the bride, her parents booked Bad Haggis, a Celtic band. The bag piper recorded the music for Braveheart, Titanic and lots of other movies. At the end of the reception I requested the theme from Braveheart and he played it! Wine+theme from Braveheart performed by actual recording piper=hysteria and maybe a few tears. Post script: Can you see the excitement in our eyes because we got to take our picture with him? Do you see any excitement in his eyes? NO. He was not interested in hanging out with us...too cool. :( Aunt Nancy, moi, Eric Rigler, Cousin Amanda, Carla

And here we are on Venice Beach. What a freak show, and also very smoggy. The bloody marys we enjoyed at lunch, however, were delicious!

A Few Things

2009-09-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

So, Jordan's parents are finally both going to be living in Denver (you might already know this from Jordan's Blog). I'm excited because that means she'll be here for all holidays and I will get to see her lots! Yay! She's in Seoul right now, but I get to see her at Christmas...skiing, Hamburger Mary's perhaps, movies with beer and unlimited popcorn. p.s. I forgot to tell you they have REAL butter for the popcorn, awesome. This is a picture that made Marc's mom very happy. The whole crew all wearing Nebraska gear, even me, and even baby Mason. That little boy comes from a broken home (half Nebraska, half Texas fans). He has to take turns supporting teams.

I don't mind wearing my new Nebraska shirt Marc got me. I like to accessorize with my zebra shoes with red bow toes, unfortunately not pictured here.

Back Yard Bounty...Before and After

2009-09-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

Look at this mess! This was our back yard BEFORE Marc cleaned made it the beauty we know and love today. Please note the wire fence inside of the wood fence, and all of those nasty bushes in progress of being chopped down in these pics.

Back Yard BEFORE

Back Yard AFTER (below)...This is the same fence as in the pic above. Can you believe it? Please note Marc's built in grill. The hot tub is just on the other side, but not pictured here.
This year, we added the mulch along the fence. Next year I will plant it.

Look at that pretty grass! I'm in charge of the potted flowers. Garden in the left corner by the fence. This year we went crazy with the peppers.

Hey, look who it is! Marc made this picnic table! I think it's just awesome.
Garden bounty.
These little peppers are HOT.

Thanks for coming over!

New Header

2009-09-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Do you want to know what I did last night? Worked on my new header. I have no idea why it was so difficult. I'll do a real post tomorrow.

Baby Sitting, Round 2

2009-09-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Look who we're baby sitting tonight! Baby Mason! What a little cutie. Last time we watched him he cried for 2 hours straight. This time is going much better.

Things I've done one handed tonight while holding Mason:
checked facebook
ate dinner
wiped the counter
picked up and disposed of a poopy diaper

I'm lucky I have such a good co-baby sitter or I wouldn't have a free minute to blog ;).

Book Review, Movie Review

2009-09-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

I'm reading a really good book right now that I love. It's called American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld. It's a fictional novel loosely based on the life of Laura Bush.

I'm finding it quite entertaining and a nice departure from watching t.v. in the evening. This is perfect timing since the t.v. is often occupied with football these days.

The book is a NY Times best seller, but didn't get the best reviews from the critics or my mom. I love the story line and the way it's written, so pish posh critics.

What are you reading? Football season is sooo long, I'm going to need additional reading material.

This weekend I saw Julie and Julia. I had been waiting for the chance to see it. I went on Sunday, by myself, as I often like to do. I went to the Landmark in Greenwood Village. For the price of one ticket you get all the popcorn you can eat, and all the soda you can drink. Also, there is a bar.

Me, my popcorn (which I buttered in the middle of the bag, then again on top), my soda, and my beer walked into the theater and found a seat. I was in a crying mood. This is the best time to go to a movie solo. As soon as the movie started I was crying, it was the beautiful scenes from Paris making me nostalgic. I had a good cry.

Meryl Streep playing Julia Child is fantastic in the movie, Amy Adams was good too but I didn't like her story line as well. I loved the relationship that Julia Child had with her husband Paul. I loved Julia's energy and endless optimism. In this way, it would be nice to be more like Julia.

By the end of the movie I was inspired to do more cooking, be more optimistic, have dinners with lots of red wine, and to make Boeuf Bourguignon.

Lucky for you, I think I will do the last 2 in combination and have a party for the Beaujolais
Nouveau in November and serve Boeuf Bourguignon a la Julia Child! See you there!

Boots...Are You Ready?

2009-09-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

Today at work I was on a rant re: boots. I love boots and anticipate boot season just as much as everyone else, but the end of summer is not the appropriate time to whip em out. Let's enjoy the end of summer and anticipate fall.

It is not time for boots, it is not time for tights. I know, I'm sad too. What can we do in the meantime? How about TRANSITION pieces! Mom and I have spent a lot of time discussing transition pieces.

Transition Plan:

-Rompers a la Anthropologie-get one, maybe two. I just got the Scottie romper below as my

back to school outfit from mom and dad, thanks!!!

-Thin plaid shirts-seeing them everywhere

-Leggings (instead of tights)

-Thin scarves

-Vests over short sleeved shirts

-Blazer (do not wear your velvet just yet)

-White button up with cotton skirts in fall colors.

The time for boots will be here before you know it. I'm pretty interested in booties this year, per the observations mom and I made in Paris. I'm excited to wear my new Cole Haan boots from last year (still need to get them stretch to fit around my "athletic calves"), and, I'm wanting these:

Joie de Vivre Continues, a Paris

2009-07-15T13:03:00.001-07:00

Hello friends! I realized when starting this post that I'm not taking enough pictures of people, just scenes. I will work harder to take pictures of mom and me tomorrow. Dinner last night was French Onion Soup, wine, bread, heaven.

After dinner, we went and watched the fireworks over the Eiffel Tour. All of my pictures are terrible, but you can see the effect here. The display was awesome!
Today we went to Notre Dam and Sainte Chappelle. This is the back of Notre Dame. It was full of tourists.

Here is the display at Lauduree on the Champs. It's a famous Macaroon shop and their windows were gorgeous and full of candy and cookies.

Outside Lauduree display window.

Annnnd her are the french men I was stalking at happy hour. The one on the right looks SO French. Mom looks thrilled! This is my favorite picture!!! More tomorrow!

Bienvenue a Paris!

2009-07-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Finally in Paris! We are having power issues with the laptop. The converter really isn't working, so posts may be far between. We're having a great time so far! Here is a glimpse of what we've been up to.

When I arrived at our apartment, I had 3 sets of these waiting for me. I hauled 2 giant suitcases up all of them-I'm still sore 3 days later! No elevator.

View from the hall when you enter the apartment. The bedroom is on the left, living room straight ahead.

This is a terrible picture of the living room, but I didn't have a better one on the camera. The shutters on the left are closed so you can't see out. Usually we have them open.

Here is our tiny bedroom.

Chevre Chaud salade. FINALLY.

Close up of Chevre Chaud, warm goat cheese on bread over a delicious salad. Heaven.

Cutest puppy in Paris. I stalked this little guy for a long time.

Mom at fondue...mmmmm.

Fondue, we love you.

Bastille Day police forces. There were lots of groups of cops just like this.

Finally, here I am with a Marin Pompier de Marseilles out for the July 14 celebration. We loved his uniform!

Oldies, really goodies

2009-04-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

I was going through old pictures today and wanted to share some of my very favorites. These are OLD, but I love them, the memories that go with them, and the people in them.

Post senior year of high school, best friends, all about to leave for college.
Freshman year of college, visiting Katie at ISU.

Freshman year, Jordan and I after our first 5K at Murray...ohhh to have those legs again.
Waikiki!

Jordan and I during a photo shoot with the wind on Hapuna Beach.

Enter, Marc. Halloween, Honolulu...cow, 80's Pop StarMurray friends at a black and white party.

Rome

Missing Margie.

2009-04-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

We miss our little girl. She was a sweet little baby who chewed and cuddled her way into our hearts. We miss her bouncing around our house, chewing on our fingers, being cute, and all of her charming puppy ways.

She was a puppy so very well loved, and we're glad we had her even for such a short time!

Fun, lately

2009-03-22T18:47:00.001-07:00

This has been a fun spring so far, with one exciting thing after another. Here's a rewind of the last few weeks.

Sushi Birthday Dinner! Marc forgot the cake so the candles went in ginger and wasabi, fitting.

Twins at a bachelorette party at Katie's.

Team outting to Vail in a limo!

Mommy and puppy time every night, just like this.

Finally....a puppy!!!

2009-03-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Look at our new baby. She is so sweet and little. Her name is Margie. She's a mix between a Shar pei and a Pug, and is the cutest little thing you have ever seen. We got her on Sunday!!! She's been a sleepy sleepy baby so far. I can't wait to take her to the park this summer!

New Windows!

2009-02-26T07:57:00.000-08:00

Our house should feel very special today. We bought her all new WINDOWS and they're being installed RIGHT NOW!!! They cost a pretty penny, so I hope she looks good.

He's Just Not That Into You, seriously

2009-02-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

OMG, last weekend I saw the movie (finally) He's Just Not That Into You. I saw it by myself, which I love to do. It was awesome, and I found it to be very realistic. It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

The cast could not have been better-what could be more fun than staring at beautiful, thin people for an hour and a half while eating buttery popcorn?

Sweet boy.

I developed a crush on this one during the movie...just wait until you see it, you will too.

Jennifer Connelly=gorgeous.

Ben Affleck was actually good. It was weird.
Scarlett Johansson's hair was really pretty. I like her.

You need to go see this right away. You should also warn your significant other that you will probably feel like he is just not that into you when you get out. oops. This will pass.

That Clever Girl, Jaimee Rose

2009-02-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

Look what she wrote in her blog today:

Recession Expression
I'm writing a story right now about the recession. (Really hating that term these days.) To wit, words that rhyme with recession:

depression
compression
repression
question

I am feeling all of those things, because I enjoy these other things so much more:
possession
(handbag) obsession
(zero) discretion
(secure) profession

Pretties

2009-02-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

Pretty collages below. One for Valentine's Day, one for St. Patrick's Day, and one to make your day :).

Hilarious

2009-02-11T15:34:00.001-08:00

I just came across this pic from Kendra's wedding in the archives, found it funny, wanted to share. Look how cute everyone looks, and look at me just trying to keep myself together. haha.

Ready to Run

2009-02-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Oh the joys of winter treadmill running...
-racing with your treadmill neighbor
-the mind games one must play with oneself in order to not quit after 5 minutes
-endless hours spent downloading music and organizing your itunes library to create an inspiring workout mix
-fighting for a treadmill at the gym (Jan and Feb only)
-feeling the judgement from the stationary bikers behind the treadmills (sorry about the jiggles, at least I'm at the gym)

When I'm on the treadmill all winter, I like to dream about running outside. It's warm and sunny, a 10 minute mile does not feel like a sprint, and it will whip you into shape in no time.

Here are the races I'm looking forward to this spring!

This is a fun little 5 miler on April 27th (gasp, that's early).

5k, downtown course, very hilly, for the homeless, finish by running around the warning track in Coors Field, free pizza

A few comments about this picture: sorry about my face, my feet do not look like I was running, but I swear I was-I DO NOT walk during races (old cross country rule), I need a tan, that one leg looks pretty good.

This was at the Bolder Boulder in 2007. BB is a 10k on Memorial Day, nice course, great bands along the way, sometimes the weather is chilly.

Who's with me?

Addiction

2009-02-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

I need to confess that I'm addicted to edamame. I have been eating at least one pack a day for the last week. The good news is it's a healthy snack. The bad news is the sea salt I dump on top, and the soy sauce I dip it in. The other bad news is that once I'm down to just the shells, sometimes I dip them in the soy sauce and lick it off. It's so good.

Guess Where I'm Going?

2009-01-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

Paris! July 10-25, mark your calendars. Mom and I will be staying here, at the Hotel de la Sorbonne. It looks gorgeous, and new, and awesome. Our room will be tiny and pretty. We will be directly across from the Sorbonne and my old stomping grounds.

We'll be very near to our very favorite little nook, St. Germain-Cafe au Lait at Cafe de Flore, Croque Monsieur at Les Deux Magots, Escargot at Basserie Lipp, and nothing from Chanel, Dior, Gucci, et al.

We CANNOT wait.

Welcome to Heaven

2009-01-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

OMG you know I want all of these, you KNOW I do. I love them each with all my heart. Remember how I said large embellished headbands would be hot for spring....told you so, just sayin. Get them on Etsy. Love.

An Attention Worthy Nursery

2009-01-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

One of my friends from college is having a baby! She has a beautiful house in KY, and this is her beautiful baby girl nursery. It's Restoration Hardware Baby. I wouldn't change a thing!

Happy Anniversary...to me!!!

2009-01-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

What were this little buddy and I doing two years ago yesterday? Getting Married!Here we are are our Luau rehearsal dinner (in the middle of winter).

To celebrate 2 years, Marc surprised me with a hotel room downtown! After work I walked over and met him at the hotel. We started our evening at Cru, a very chic wine bar on Larimer Square. We both enjoyed a delicious glass of wine...Marc's was better than mine...and fried brie=delicious.
From there we walked to Oceanaire, the main event of the evening. Oceanaire is a fantastic fresh seafood restaurant. We both enjoyed very tasty martinis. Marc had the Mahi Mahi (wonderful), and I had Tuna (raw). Both were delicious.

After dinner we had THE MOST DIVINE and perfect cheesecake known to man. I am not joking.

It was a perfect evening! This morning I woke up in the hotel and walked to work....just the icing on the cake.

Back to blogging...Time for Vegas!

2009-01-11T14:54:00.001-08:00

This year I'm going to be better at posting new blogs...I hope you all will stay with me.

This weekend, I'm going to Vegas with some very good friends of mine. Four of the most wonderful and fun girls I know, and then two others I don't know very well. We are all very excited! Here is a preview of who will be coming and how I know them.

At far right, Miss Hadley "f" ing Rush...The F is for fabulous. I met this little lady as soon as I arrived in Paris. We were in the same van from the airport to our apartment. As it turns out, she was in my study abroad program and living in the same apartment building on the same floor. We had a lot of wonderful times in Paris, and I've only seen her one time since. It's been 3 years or so since we've been together.

These girls, Katie and Lisa, are my favorite friends in Denver. We initiated the trip, and have been getting ready and excited for months now. We see each other every day because we work together. One of Katie's friends, Jamie, will be meeting us in sin city also.

This is my favorite friend from home, Katie (kiki). We have been friends since high school and she was even in my wedding. She's living in New York right now and is making the long trip to Vegas! She's bringing one of her friends with her too.

I'm so excited not only about going to Vegas, but also to see all of these fun friends again!

Get Ready to Get EXCITED

2008-11-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

Today I came in the door from work and found my mail on a pile on the floor as I do everyday because our mail comes in through a slot on the porch (love that). There were so many wonderful Christmas delights I couldn't make my way through the pile fast enough. I received Christmas catalogues from 1. JCrew 2. Pottery Barn 3. Williams Sonoma. Where to begin???

I started with Williams Sonoma. OMG new obsession was found within those glossy pages. 12 Days of Christmas plates, napkins, table cloths, put together perfectly of course. Get excited about this. I want them, all of them. 12 Days of Christmas party anyone?

The salad plates come in a boxed set (hat box, mind you!) for 99$, not bad. I LOVE them.

Here are the dinner plates. Can you imagine those salad plates on top of these dinner plates? Sorry you have to per the website, but the catalogue brings it all together for you. I hope you got your today.

If you don't want to commit to buying the real plates, then this kit is perfect. All the ingredients for a 12 Days of Christmas party, but in the disposable version. Plates, napkin rings, place cards, cocktail napkins. Someone at Williams Sonoma is on top of their game because this is a home run.

Fashion Finds

2008-11-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

I had a great weekend, and Saturday was the highlight. I first met my friend Katie at the mall for a delicious and perfect sushi lunch. We went to Kona Grill at Cherry Creek Mall-it will be added to our list of favorite spots.

I then shopped for a few hours, purchasing these at JCrew, on sale plus an additional 30% off:

I am going to order these boots (were out of my size in stores).

What do you think? Wise choices?

Wanted: Boots!

2008-10-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

All summer I dream of the glorious day when boots get to come back into my wardrobe in a serious way. The first day of boot season is my favorite day of fall. That day is dangerously close, but not here yet. I have the following boots in my collection: black heals, short black flat suede, riding, short flat brown suede, tall brown with a heal, snow. Clearly I need to update and add to the collection. I'm looking to add a tall pair of black flats, a tall pair of flat browns. I love all of these-no they are not all in the budget, or on the list of "needs."

Franco Sarto 'Saddle' $198.95 NEEDSteve Madden 'Bonanza' $79.95 NEED

Cole Haan 'Fabriaza' $595 WANT

Jessica Bennet 'Joni' $244.95 WANT

Jessica Simpson 'Potla' $197.95 NEED

Ski Bunny

2008-10-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

I know it's only October, but Denver is buzzing in anticipation of ski season. Around the office there is talk of the cost of purchasing passes, weekends in the mountains, new skiis, boots, boards, jackets, pants, how many inches the mountains are getting. Everytime the clouds gather in the west, the excitement grows a little more. It's snowing in the mountains!

When I first moved to Denver I did not understand what was so great about skiing. It's cold, it's kind of scary, it takes forever to get to the slopes because the traffic is terrible, and the equipment is heavy. After 2 season of learning, falling, whining, I finally get it.

1. The mountains are beautiful.

2. Fresh powder is all it's cracked up to be.

3. It's a healthy weekend activity.

4. Rolling hills on a freshly groomed run=heaven, really.

5. It's not THAT cold if you have the right gear...ok, the top of Breck is cold.

6. Apres ski-beer, bloody mary, pizza, hot tubs.

7. Skiing with friends.

8. Conquering a challenging run.

9. Ski towns-just like the movies.

10. Cabin weekends. This picture is of a late night sledding adventure last winter in Breck.

All That Glitters

2008-10-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend glittering Halloween delights! There is glitter all over my table, floor, and face. This is my scary Halloween table.

Skull with ruffle collar and feathers.

These velvet, silk, chenille pumpkins were a breeze to make and came out so cute.

Pumpkins are ready for their close up. There are still more in production. I want mounds of them everywhere!!!

Treasures from Home

2008-10-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

It is always a very exciting day for me when I receive a package from home. Usually I have an idea from Mom that treasures are on the way, but I never know exactly what. That is part of the fun. I received these delightful autumn treats just last week. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Mom found this dress at H&M in St. Louis. She arrived to Denver wearing it this summer. I took it over later during the visit, and now I have my very own. That is why my Mom is so great. Per our rules, when I am complimented on it, I always say Mom found it first. Those are the rules.

Mom found this little French poodle pin and jet bead bracelet at the flea market and was so sweet to share them with me. The poodle will be making frequent appearances on sweaters and jackets this winter.

Mom also copied all of the wonderful paper products she found at the flea market and sent them to me in full sheets. I'm going to use them to update my little shadow box. I love this Halloween handkerchief too!

In every package I have ever received from Mom and Dad, there are always treasures from Dad tucked away at the bottom. There is usually a "natural" element-a plastic snake, or a part of an animal (sometimes gross), and there is always a carpenter pencil. I always get a carpenter pencil when I go home too. I have a nice collection now.

I liked the assortment this time. (1) Carpenter pencil, (2) pennies, (1) nickel, (1) bullet thing, (1) rattle snake rattle (Where this came from, I do not know).

Thanks very much for the treasures Mom and Dad!

I Want to Live in a RL World!

2008-10-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

Summer's over, back to school....with Ralph Lauren of course. I am studying these looks this season. So far I'm flunking Ralph Lauren fashion school, as I have very few of the essentials he is showing for Fall 2008. Here's a peak at my RL Fall study guide.

Scarf under vest, yes please.

Colored jacket, pop the collar, scrunch the socks socks, wear a tie.

Ralph says hats are back, and I believe him. Feathers, velvet, structured, whimsical. I thought I was inspired to wear hats after the Coco Chanel lifetime movie. Now I am even more convinced of the hats place in a modern lady/fashionista's wardrobe. Get one.

Style notes: Tuck a button ups into a skirt. Wear a large belt, tights, gloves.

Buy a cool coat. Asymmetry is good. A large collar is good.

I want to live in this world Ralph creates.

Fall Finds

2008-09-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday I visited the flea market and had a wonderful time! I am inspired to collage my Halloween party invitations with these vintage finds. I love the couple in the photo and intend to dress her up in some sort of costume, probably a fairy with wings and jeweled crown.

I also stumbled upon a table with 1/2 off all costume jewlry and scored these lovelies! The two jet brooches will make a perfect pair on sweaters, accompanied by this double strand-jeweled clip bracelet. I love the flea market!
-C

France For Your Fingers

2008-09-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

This fall, if you can't make it to Paris, quench your thirst for French Fashion with OPI's fall/winter 2008 collection: Couture Couleurs, La Collection de France.

I'll be swapping out my previous favorite OPI, "Lincoln Park After Dark," for one (or two) of these beauties. While they are all lovely and named after places and things I hold dear, the three in the running to become my fall favorite are:

PARLEZ-VOUS OPI?
This smoky violet speaks the language of fashion.

LOUVRE ME LOUVRE ME NOT
“Exhibit” your sense of style with this royal purple.

BASTILLE MY HEART
Make hearts race in this glimmer of rich burgundy.

See them here: http://www.opi.com/france.asp