Wednesday Wishlist

It's better to give than receive, right? Riiiiiight. Until Christmastime, when at somepoint during the "giving" I wander off to the shoe department and find myself squarely in the "I want to be receiving" camp. (I'm an only child. So sue me.) While the joy of finding the perfect gift for someone you love is certainly one of life's great pleasures, it doesn't hurt to look for oneself, right? Right? Here are some things I would LOVE for Santa to bring me, although it's entirely possible I'm on the naughty list. Oh well, a girl can dream.

This year I'm dreaming of new skinnies, embellished sweaters and new rain boots. And something shiny you know, because why not? Realistically the only thing I'm getting on here is the nail polish.  And maybe the necklace.  Mr. Valentine are you listening???

Embellished Sweater, Rain Boots, Quilted Bag, Statement Necklace, New Skinnies, Pretty Piggies

What's on your wishlist this winter. And are you (like me) never able to find what you want when you have a fist full of cash? Then somehow find every store stocked with the perfect stuff when you are supposed to be shopping for everyone else? That's the universe for ya. She is a tricky, tricky minx. XOXO,

Too Cute Tuesday

Sadie may or may not dress better than may. Ok, she does. She probably dresses better than most people. I pretty much buy her what I would want to wear but can't since I'm not 3ft tall. Let's be honest, a grown woman in a tunic covered with birds only works if you're being ironic, which I've yet to master as a fashion choice. But on SJ it's adorable, which she knows all too well. I put this dress on Sadie and she said, "I a princess mama!" And so it begins.

Tunic: mini Boden Tights: Nordstrom Grey Moto Boots: Similar
XOXO,

Just Another Manic Monday

What is it about Mondays anyway?  I actually like my job, so it's not like I dread the week or anything, but Mondays have this way of going horribly awry. Today I was supposed to:

1. Be out of bed by 5:45
2. Get pot roast in the crock pot all Martha Stewart like
3. Fold some laundry
4. Blow dry my crazy hair straight

Here's what actually went down:

1. Some combo of me hitting snooze, my husband refusing to set his alarm & a toddler who decided to sleep in meant I leaped out of bed at 6:53 screaming "SHIT SHIT SHIT!"
2. Barely had time to make lunch, so yeah, pot roast can go kick rocks.  (Crappy Chinese food is is!)
3. The laundry I was supposed to fold was still in the wash.  Oops.
4. Wearing 2 day old hair in a braid. Sigh.

Oh and? My baby who normally wakes up so happy that bluebirds try to fly in our house to help dress her and do her hair? Yeah, she woke up channeling Linda Blair meets Damien  with a dash of Veruca Salt.  So I gave her a cookie for breakfast to make her stop crying.  And you know what? It worked like a charm.  I had a cookie too in fact, which is the point at which this day got infinitely better.  It's never to early to teach your kids to equate food with comfort, no?

Here's hoping your Monday is off to a better start than mine.

XOXO,

Facelift

So I've been checking in on all my favorite blogs as usual, trying to ignore my sad little one that's been neglected since summertime.  I'd be like "Hey! Look what Kendi's up to" or "Hey, my bestie T over at Curly in the City is so damn cute, I should grab lunch with her this week" and I'd completely forget that hey you have a blog too Val!  It sat there staring at me, screaming, "WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE!" So I thought, maybe if it were prettier I'd be a better blogger.  It's sort of the internet equivalent of keeping that too small pair of jeans that will somehow magically prompt you to work out. 

So I thought to myself, who do I know that makes everything she touches prettier? Why my internet buddy Ashley of course! So she took on my sad little space and made it so damn pretty that I can't stop looking at it.  Which makes it infinitely more likely that I'll post on it.  Starting right....meow.  Happy to be back friends.  And if your interwebz home needs some sprucing up, I highly recommend you check out Ashley at her lovely blog.  Just don't be mad when you look at her picture and find out she's like the prettiest girl in the universe.  She's nice too, so you can't even want to smack her. Sigh.

Tell me what you think of my cosmetic internet surgery!

XOXO,

When words fail.

It seems like we have been living from one untenable act of violence to another. There's really nothing to say, and today is certainly not the day for outrage or reactiveness. So find your friends, your family, your babies. Hold them, kiss them, make sure they know you love them.

Teach your children to be a force of light and kindness in a mad world. Try to spread a little love to make to make tolerable a world that seems overrun with hate.

"Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been know to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature. " - Mahatma Gandhi

the one where I post all the things!

I'm assuming that this blog is now an echo chamber, since it's hard for me to believe anyone still reads it. Going 8 months b/t posts will do a number on your readership. I was hoping the "hard to get" vibe was working for me, you know like not giving away the cow when I want you to buy the milk or what not. But, but, but here I am dying of heatstroke here in the Chi. Ok not really, but kind of. So since I might actually melt at any given moment here is a list of the things that have been keeping me busy:

See that? That used to be a baby. Now it's a toddler. That should be sufficient explanation of where the hell I've been. Any day where she doesn't dance on the coffee table or catapult her self off the stairs is a raging success.

See that? That's my house. I've had it since November. And since then I've been pretending to know what the fluck I'm doing when it comes to home maintenance, gardening & decorating. It hasn't burned down yet so I'd say we're in good shape.

See that? That's my husband after seeing Magic Mike. Oh wait no, that's me. Nevermind. This IS my husband after graduating w/his Masters in Applied Statistics. What does that mean you ask? I have no idea, except that the last two years of grad school widowhood have mercifully drawn to a close & now the Mister can pursue his dream of professional math dorkery. And lastly this:

We went to Vegas. We did not wake up toothless w/a tiger or chicken in our hotel room, which in Vegas is a great success. We even came home w/some money which is great. On the downside Mr. Val now thinks he is some sort of gambling savant that can beat the Vegas house odds w/his superior mastery of statistics. Luckily I dragged him home before he bet our mortgage on red. So there you go. I'll be back w/some regularity now I hope. I miss writing and joking around even if I'm the only one listening. I've always been incredibly adept at cracking myself up.
Til we meet again,

A letter to my baby. I mean, my toddler.

I'm not going to apologize for not posting. It's the same old shiz really, busy with work, busy with baby, busy with life plus a dash of buying a new house and well, you get it. Add to that the fact that we just celebrated the bambina's first b-day and I hope you will pardon my negligence. I'd tell you I'd get better but well, I don't want to lie to you my pets. So what's on the docket today? Well, a letter to the baby (ok little girl) who has rocked my world in the best possible way for the last 365 (ok 370) days.

To my darling Sadie:

It's hard to try to encapsulate what's transpired over the last year. Not because your growth & personality & accomplishments have been so vast (though the have, my little superstar), but because it's hard for me to remember what life was like before you were here. It's hard for me to remember what life was like before your bright brown eyes followed me everywhere I went. It's hard to remember a time before your giggle sprinkled joy throughout this great family of ours. It's hard to remember a time where your cry didn't send aches through my heart that I didn't know could cut so deep.

It's hard to remember ever being as scared as I was the day you were born. It's hard to remember how guilty & distraught I was when you fell off the bed (insert obligatory mom of the year nominations right here). It's hard to remember when bone crushing exhaustion could be swept away in an instant by your crooked little smile. It's hard to remember a moment that I was away from you that I wished I wasn't. And it's impossible for me to remember what in the world we were thinking years ago when your daddy and I thought we might not want babies. Speaking of your daddy, it's hard to imagine that I could ever love him more than in the moments where I caught him rocking you, kissing you, stroking you or just gazing at you while you slept. He did and still does do all of those things, though you fight him a little more than at the beginning.

It's hard to imagine a time when trips to the store were for tequila & beer, not milk & applesauce. It's hard to remember a day that started after 6:00 AM. It's hard to remember a day where I didn't think of my own mom & dad and give a silent unheard thank you to them for all they did for me, since I never fully understood it until you arrived. It's hard to recall a time where you were not the center of my whole universe. Without you in it I'd just spin right off my axis.

But there in lies the innate conundrum of parenting. While you are no doubt the center of our world, we can't let you know. Why? Because then you might wind up a mindless, entitled brat, otherwise known as the species "Homo-Kardashian-Tus". So while daddy and I secretly giggle when you yell at us for taking away your balloon/bottle of hairspray/insert any other random not baby safe object here, it's for your own good. When we tell you "No" when you hit, it's not because we're mean, it's our job. When we make you walk when you want to run, it's because we want to keep you safe for the fleeting period of time that we get to watch over you every day.

We also want you to know what you can't possible yet comprehend, which is that you are an insanely lucky little girl. In a time when so many people suffer, you flourish. In a time when so many families struggle, we prosper. And in a time when so many little ones go hungry or cold, you have never known a day without enough milk or blankets. And one day we will expect you to go out into the world with that knowledge and to pay it forward. Through your own heart. Through your own actions & works and family. And I know you will, because I've seen your sweet spirit emerge this year and I'm truly blown away.

You've already started to pull away from me and that's ok. You want to climb stairs and pet doggies and pull yourself up and out of my arms, which is normal. But every now and then you still come to me, reach for me and nuzzle your sweet little head into my neck as if to say, "Thank you mama".

And my darling Sadie, you are so very welcome. Being your mama the most important thing I will ever do. Keep rockin' this world baby.

XOXO,

Your mama, aka