Tuesday, July 29, 2008

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Well, our flight leaves for Colorado in less than 9 hours. ugh. that's stupid early for anyone keeping track. i figured with it being connor's first flight, the earlier the better. when i used to travel for work, there were always the fewest people on the 6am flight no matter where you were going...fingers crossed!!

so, for wednesday's post, here's a not so wordless wednesday...

we're going to see my grandma so she can meet connor for the first time...



and we're going to visit katy (we're the middle two)!!





once we're back in town next week, i'll be back on the posting train!!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Friday's Daily Dose of Briliance...

here are this weeks sites...



10 Links a day-so i am starting to struggle finding 2 new sites a week, but these guys are able to find 10 sites a day that fit into a daily theme. all kinds of goodness here!



Goodreads-i think i've talked about this site before but i really love it. it's like myspace meets amazon. It helps you keep track of books you've read and those you want to read. Plenty of reviews too!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

Nearly Wordless Wednesday I guess…I decided to toss some vintage (as in 3-6 months ago) photos in here for wordless Wednesday since I know Aidan’s mommy Steph checks in here every once in a while. So, here are some pics of Connor and his BFF Aidan.











Friday, July 18, 2008

Friday's Daily Dose of Briliance...

Today's Posts are all about food, yummy food.

Bakerella-Cute blog about this ultra creative woman’s awesome baking ideas. Just look at these adorable panda bears made from pink oreos. Love it. The fun photos alone are enough of a reason to love this site!

This week for dinner-great site where readers post what they are planning for dinner in the coming week. Really helps with trying to eat home cooked meals, even with crazy lives. There are lots of yummy recipes and other foodie related items as well.


Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The covers of this book are too far apart

Last time my book club chose our upcoming books, i posted them here in case anyone felt like reading along. So, this weekend, we selected the last four books of the year and so here they are, along with some stolen summaries from amazon...

A Mississippi jury returns a $41-million verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping carcinogenic waste into a small town's water supply. The company's ruthless billionaire CEO is thwarted and the good guys (a courageous young woman who lost her husband and child and her two lawyers who've gone half a million dollars in debt preparing her case) receives its just reward. This sounds like the end of a Grisham legal thriller, but instead it's the beginning of a book-length lesson in how greed and big business have corrupted our electoral and judicial systems. Grisham's characters are over-the-top. The CEO and the other equally overdone villains—his venal trophy wife, a self-serving senator and a pair of smarmy political fixers—as well as the unbelievably good-hearted, self-sacrificing lawyers and an honorable state judge, are one dimensional. Michael Beck, with his natural Southern drawl, does a fine job of adding credibility and nuance to the large cast. But his efforts are for naught. In fact, the more he makes us feel for these characters, the less apt we are to be satisfied with the sourball moral of Grisham's downbeat discourse.

Two gifted sisters draw on their talents to belatedly forge a bond and find their ways in life in Allen's easygoing debut novel. Thirty-four-year-old Claire Waverley manifests her talent in cooking; using edible flowers, Claire creates dishes that affect the eater in curious ways. But not all Waverley women embrace their gifts; some, including Claire's mother, escape the family's eccentric reputation by running away. She abandoned Claire and her sister when they were young. Consequently, Claire has remained close to home, unwilling to open up to new people or experiences. Claire's younger sister, Sydney, however, followed in their mother's footsteps 10 years ago and left for New York, and after a string of abusive, roustabout boyfriends, returns to Bascom, N.C., with her five-year-old daughter, Bay. As Sydney reacquaints herself with old friends and rivals, she discovers her own Waverley magic. Claire, in turn, begins to open up to her sister and in the process learns how to welcome other possibilities. Though Allen's prose can lean toward the pedestrian and the romance subplots feel perfunctory, the blending of horticultural folklore, the supernatural and a big dollop of Southern flavor should find favor with a wide swath of readers.

Despite the provocative subtitle, most of the information gathered by the author as she went undercover as a sorority girl is nothing especially new. After all, everyone knows sororities can be exclusive, conformist, and superficial organizations. But Robbins' account of life inside the sorority house still makes for fascinating reading. Following four sorority sisters through their first year in the house, a world of sex, drugs, eating disorders, and insecurity is revealed. One wonders, though, if these experiences are that different from the experiences of those students not affiliated with Greek societies. What is arguably different, though, is the extreme pressure brought to bear on these young women to repress their own natural instincts, desires, and inclinations in order to fit in with an amazingly shallow and often unworthy group of friends. Where the author really scores is in her analysis of why otherwise intelligent and sensitive women would sacrifice their independence, and often self-respect, for the sake of an artificially engineered secret society.

In this raucous collection of true-life stories, actress and comedian Chelsea Handler recounts her time spent in the social trenches with that wild, strange, irresistible, and often gratifying beast: the one-night stand. You've either done it or know someone who has: the one-night stand, the familiar outcome of a night spent at a bar, sometimes the sole payoff for your friend's irritating wedding, or the only relief from a disastrous vacation. Often embarrassing and uncomfortable, occasionally outlandish, but most times just a necessary and irresistible evil, the one-night stand is a social rite as old as sex itself and as common as a bar stool. Enter Chelsea Handler. Gorgeous, sharp, and anything but shy, Chelsea loves men and lots of them. My Horizontal Life chronicles her romp through the different bedrooms of a variety of suitors, a no-holds-barred account of what can happen between a man and a sometimes very intoxicated, outgoing woman during one night of passion. From her short fling with a Vegas stripper to her even shorter dalliance with a well-endowed little person, from her uncomfortable tryst with a cruise ship performer to her misguided rebound with a man who likes to play leather dress-up, Chelsea recalls the highs and lows of her one-night stands with hilarious honesty. Encouraged by her motley collection of friends (aka: her partners in crime) but challenged by her family members (who at times find themselves a surprise part of the encounter), Chelsea hits bottom and bounces back, unafraid to share the gritty details. My Horizontal Life is one guilty pleasure you won't be ashamed to talk about in the morning.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

when good toys go bad

My parenting lesson of the day.


before...





after...




don't launder your kid's stuffed lion unless a crazy lion afro is your desired end result.
lesson learned.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Shameless Plug...


This post is a shameless plug for a band I know and really like, The Atma. Lucas, the drummer, is as close as i'll ever get to a step-brother, so here i am…being supportive. I really like their music. It’s a difficult sound to try and explain. I’ve told people before it’s like a Sublime feel, but sometimes harder. It’s a little classic rock, a little indie and a wee bit reggae…that’s my interpretation anyway for whatever it’s worth.

There are several videos of them on YouTube here, here and here...and they are also on Itunes so check them out please!!

Friday's Daily Dose of Briliance...


I've decided to devote this week's post to mi amiga Erin who is currently in Spain studying for a couple months. I'm so proud of her for taking this trip with a group of mostly strangers. I'm also pretty damn jealous that I'm not enjoying Spain with her. Since we email everyday, i can confirm though that for the most part, she's enjoying herself enough for the both of us. I think it's awesome that she's taking this opportunity by the horns (get it...cause she's in spain and they have bulls there) so here you go erin!!
Notes from Spain-this is a blog about all things Spain...the language, the culture, the food, etc! The blog has been going for a few years and even has links to their flikr account where you'll see some amazing photos!!
Photos of Spain-this one's pretty self explanitary. lots and lots of photos from Spain. Enjoy!
Spain Guides-This blog has so much...maps, weather, getting around, wines, food, etc. There are some great pics on here too!
So, here's to you Erin! And Happy 27th birthday too!!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

I’m starting Wordless Wednesdays this week. I’ve seen this on so many great blogs and since I take a sickening amount of photos of Connor this should be a great outlet. Check here for a listing of others who participate in Wordless Wednesday!!









Horrible

Monday, July 7, 2008

Fearless Fourth and a few more tidbits...



This year, we struggled trying to decide if we were going to take Connor to see fireworks or not. How traumatizing could it really be? Then my dad filled me in that I screamed through it my first "several" years…hmm…how many subsequent years do you listen to your child scream before you give up on the tradition? Super.

Anyway, connor had seen/heard fireworks before at Dbacks playoff games so we figured we’d probably be ok. We had two concerns—1. it being hotter than hell outside and 2. the parking/getting out of the parking lot situation. So, we opted to go and see fireworks at Chase Field. The Dbacks set them off after the game on the 4th every year so that’s what we did. Connor was great through the entire game, but unfortunately fell dead asleep the minute the game ended. Seriously. Since we knew the fireworks would scare the poop outta him if that’s what woke him up we tried everything to get the kid to wake…tickles, loud talking, a wee bit of shaking…nada. He finally had his eyes just a bit open when they started. The noise and fireworks didn’t seem to bother him, but it was really windy and that pissed him off-funny kid. So, all in all, he did great which means no perpetuating a terrifying tradition!! Hooray us!




We also finally decided it was time for Connor to learn how to use a spoon...this is surely the part of the post where you should feel free to tune out if you don't find tiny little child nuances as awesome as I clearly do. It's ok...i'll wait. So, I don't know at what age this is supposed to happen, but for us it's 14 months and we started this weekend. It went really well and even though he holds the spoon like that lefty kid no one talked to in school, nearly 70% of the food gets in his actual mouth so we're pleased with the results.

so good when it hits your lips...


do you triple dog dare me?



seriously? you thought i wouldn't do it!?!?


Other than that, Connor discovered a few new things this weekend...
Zoey has a grab-worthy tail
Toes are rad
...and naked running is number one!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!