A Day in the Life

I always think that "day in the life" posts are really fun to read - it's probably my super-nosy nature, but I just like to see glimpses of other peoples' "normal" ("crazy"?) and how they spend / manage / balance their time.

Last Thursday, I remembered to make some notes during the day, so I thought I'd share a current Day in the Life at our house. I'm sure this will be fun to look back on down the road!

For background, I work from an office in DC a few days a week, and from home a few days a week. This day was an office day, so there is a little more crazy to it than if it was one of my telework days. Maybe I'll share one of those some days for comparison's sake.

Here we go...

A Day in the Life: February 9, 2017

5:00 AM: wake up a few minutes before my alarm - the worst! Wind and rain is howling outside, and has been all night. 

5:20 AM: alarm goes off, so C and I both get up. Connor stays asleep generally while we get ready. I put in my contacts and go downstairs to do the normal morning stuff - make oatmeal, coffee, pack lunches, feed the cats, make bottles, etc.

5:50 AM: C leaves for work and I sit down to watch the news and eat breakfast. The news is all bad - both the weather and the information. Womp, womp.

6:00 AM: I go upstairs to do my hair and make up and pick out my clothes

6:16 AM: go downstairs to warm up Connor's bottle and put our bags in the car

6:19 AM: I realize the bottle warmer is on but not plugged in. Damn. Lose any spare minutes I may have had that morning!

6:23 AM: wake up Connor and feed him his bottle, then change his diaper and get him dressed

6:35 AM: I get dressed while chasing Connor around our bathroom. Save him from the ironing board. Search for black tights; none to be found. Save him from toilet lid x 4. Settle for regular nylons. Try to distract him with book and socks while I finish getting dressed. No luck.

6:48 AM: grab our coats and out the door - two minutes to spare before the school bus enters our neighborhood and we'd be stuck, so we win!

6:55 AM: daycare drop off on the way to the train. I spend a few minutes talking to the teachers about yesterday, because Connor had a fussy day - molars are the worst! I make googley-eyes at a new, tiny baby that just enrolled. She is precious!

7:25 AM: board my train for the city. I make some notes for this post, read blogs on my Feedly app, and watch an episode of The Crown on Netflix (it's so good!!)

8:40 AM: off the train and into my building - I have just enough time to get organized before the start of an all-day meeting with my team and our clients

9:00 AM: our meeting starts

9:50 AM: a coworker offers to make a Starbucks run. I love this person! 

10:00 AM: we have a meeting within our meeting, so do the conference room shuffle

11:05 AM: back to our regular meeting

11:45 AM: we decide on a working lunch, so I grab mine from upstairs while others go to get food to bring back. I have leftover crockpot baked potato soup - it's delicious!

12:45 PM: run up and down two flights of stairs about five times trying to print a document - who says you can't fit cardio into your day?? Ugh.

1:00 PM: another meeting within our meeting, more room shuffling

1:45 PM: back to our regular meeting for the rest of the afternoon

3:00 PM: meeting wraps up, so I say goodbye to our clients, debrief with my team, and help clean up the conference room

3:30 PM: I'm on the train home - made it on an earlier one than I expected, so that's awesome!

5:05 PM: get off the train and realize that all the car windshields are covered in ice - apparently the rain became snow at some point! I scrape ice off my windshield and the car of the girl parked next to me before heading home.

5:30 PM: walk through the door at home! C has picked Connor up from daycare so all my boys are waiting for my arrival. Best part of the day!

5:45 PM: we feed the baby dinner, play in the basement for a while, and then give him a bath before getting his jammies on

6:35 PM: C goes upstairs to do Connor's bedtime story and give him his bottle, and I unpack lunchboxes and do a quick sweep of the main floor to put things away

6:59 PM: the baby is asleep, C orders Chinese food, wine is poured, and we settle in to watch the Capitals game - they are playing the Red Wings in DC tonight, and have really been on a roll lately, so it should be a good game!

7:15 PM: dinner arrives, so I load a plate with fried rice, beef & broccoli, and General Tso's chicken. We don't have Chinese very often but it sounded really good tonight.

9:40 PM: Caps win! 6-3, good guys. Wahoo! We switch to Food Network for a bit.

10:15 PM: I head upstairs to get ready for bed, then it's lights out!

And that's that! Whew. Makes me tired just to think about it :) Luckily, nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary happened... just our "usual," for right now! Any similarities to your own day?

Celebrations on celebrations (I'm old and so is my baby)

Hello from the other side.

Of what? Everything, it feels like. Let's see...

• Christmas (3x)
• Baby's first stomach bug (projectile vomiting [also 3x] his way into Christmas Day, awesome!)
• New Year's
• Baby's first birthday (hold me)
• Baby's first birthday party
• My 30th birthday (actually, prop me up, because I'm old!)

And probably a whole host of other things I can't remember because the last few weeks have been rather circus-like! I have a feeling this is what mid-December to mid-January will always look like for us. Why celebrate once when you can celebrate over, and over, and over...!

Really, we've had an amazing month or two. Christmas was so sweet and special, and our little guy was so loved on. We celebrated New Year's in Richmond with friends of ours, which was low-key and fun, and then continued the party by taking the day off to celebrate CCW's first birthday. We had a family lunch date and a library trip since it was rainy and gross outside, and he played his little heart out. So much so that he went to bed early and slept 14 hours straight! Happy birthday, indeed. 

We had a little family party for him, and had crockpot pulled pork sandwiches followed by birthday cake. He was surrounded by the people who love him and have watched him grow this year, which was just what I wanted! The day after his birthday, C & I celebrated MY birthday the next day with a day-date out to lunch and winery we used to frequent pre-baby. It was awesome to get to spend a few hours being adults, enjoying ourselves and each other. While we were out bopping around, my mom fixed my favorite dinner - homemade tacos - which we followed with ice cream cake (and wine). Not a bad way to kick off my newest decade, if you ask me!

A photo posted by Lindsay W. (@lndsywst) on Jan 8, 2017 at 12:43pm PST

In the spirit of keeping it real, in case projectile vomiting was not enough, I'll disclose the fact that we also celebrated the holidays by replacing our furnace and our water heater within 10 days of one another. That was awesome. Home-ownership at it's finest. Bright side: we have a "rainy day" fund just for times like this. Less bright side: when you use your "rainy day" fund, it's gone in the event you need it again 10 days later. Womp, womp.

So now that we're done with all the partying, it seems like we will get back to life as we know it (whatever that means). I am looking forward to a long weekend at home with my little family - a few days of quiet-ish time sounds like it will be good for all of us! C & I have been re-watching Band of Brothers at night when the Capitals aren't playing, and I think we will finish that up and maybe start The Pacific again. We can't seem to find something new to commit to, so we're going back to the old favorites. What are you watching?

Finding some balance

This season in life is a weird one. Some days I feel like I have everything figured out, and I do a good job of balancing all that is going on and all the "hats" I am wearing right now: I can be a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an employee, a coworker, a friend... all at once. And other days I feel like I can barely keep it together enough to be any one of those things, let alone all of them! I'm sure that's how most new moms feel, but it is definitely requiring some mental adjustments to let myself figure out how to live this version of life. There are times when it feels like I've been doing this forever, and other times I remind myself that I have literally only been a mom for 8 months, and that is such a tiny piece of time. There is no rush to have it all figured out quite yet.

I've been back at work for about five months now, and while we have a good routine, and I am very lucky to have a very flexible environment and understanding team, some days it feels like I can barely keep it all together to make it work. I got two pieces of good advice recently, one from a random blog and one from a coworker. The random blog said, you can be a great mom and a great employee, but you will likely never be great at both at the same time. That really resonated with me - if I am being great at one of those things, I am likely just being good at the other... and that is okay! Sometimes I'm being a great worker. Sometimes I'm being a great mom. Neither is suffering when I'm just being good, though. I have to give myself a little grace and understanding, and know that being good is good enough.

A few days after I read that blog post (really wish I could remember the source.. oops. Mom brain!), I had a meeting with my career manager / mentor at work. We were supposed to be discussing my current career goals. Over coffee, I was completely honest with her and told her that, truth be told, I really don't have any career goals right now. My goal is to keep doing my job while I figure out how to be a mom. Wouldn't you know, she looked right at me and said, "Your goal is to tread water. And treading water is okay!" I needed so badly to hear that from her. She is a mom and an employee with many more years experience under her belt, and she understands where I am in life right now - so lucky for me! I needed someone to tell me that, right now, I don't need to be setting giant lofty goals and trying to propel myself forward. Instead, I need to learn how to maintain and keep my head above water. You can't keep swimming forward if you don't know how to just keep from drowning to start with! So here I am. Treading water. And it's okay. I will do the best I can, of course, and do the best work I can, but also admit to myself that some (most) days the 80% solution will have to do instead of the 100% solution. That is a little bit hard to come to terms with, but I'm working through it mentally. I have many years ahead of me to learn how to do everything really well again! For now, I'll just keep treading water. 

This sweet boy makes it all worth it - I know I will look back on this time later and barely remember the things I thought were so difficult. He is such a joy to us!

Thoughts on Orlando

I am nauseated by the headlines coming out of Orlando. Thinking about it makes me feel physically ill. I can't click on the links; I can't read the stories. My eyes glaze over as I skim the sensationalistic words - I can't bring myself to read the timelines, or the stories of heroics, or the biographies of victims. I don't have it in me.

I'm tired of prayers. I’m so tired of them. I’m tired of everyone saying “praying for wherever!” because honestly, that approach doesn’t appear to be working. I'm tired of hashtags and retweets, making it so simple you don't even have to write your own words to express sympathy, just click and copy someone else's. I’m angry that celebrities and politicians, once again, are making the requisite sympathetic statements and demanding change but not actually doing anything to create it. I hate seeing people with power asking “how can we let this keep happening?” and then never thinking about it again until the next big event.

I know that gun control isn’t the whole answer. I know that a person who is determined to hurt people will find a way to do it, regardless of the weapon that is available to them. I know that if it isn’t guns, it’ll be knives, or bombs, or something. But I just can’t understand that we make it so easy for it to be guns. I just can’t wrap my head around it. Gun control isn’t whole answer, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t any of the answer. It’s certainly part of it. There is no reason whatsoever that a person needs access to weaponry of such mass destruction, and with hardly any questions asked before they get that kind of access. How is that acceptable?

Almost ten years ago, my world was shattered when a mass shooting occurred on my college campus, just a few buildings over from where I was in class. I thought that would be the worst it would ever be – 32 families destroyed by a single man. I am shocked, though I probably shouldn’t be, that almost ten years since that horrible day, 50 more families are suffering this abomination, left to pick of the pieces of broken lives, missing their loved ones, because almost nothing has changed. Once again, one man had the power to create carnage and devastation. What will it take for the reaction to be more than shaking of heads and memes circulating on the internet? Why is this ok? Why are we not, collectively, angrier that this has become the norm in this country? I just don’t understand. I can’t understand. And once again, I am so sad, so heartbroken that this has happened, and struggling with the knowledge that it seems like it will just keep happening, time after time.

Postpartum Fitness (insert crazy laughter here)

Let's talk postpartum fitness. WAIT. Don't leave. Really.

More specifically, let's talk about a definite lack of postpartum fitness. Uh oh.

Lately, I've had several people ask me about what I'm doing to lose weight, and if I've been working out "all the time" because I hardly look like I had a baby. The answer to that is most definitely no, and I don't say that in a bragging way, I say it a little bit sheepishly. There is no exercise happening around these parts, my friends.

I'll be honest. I've lost all but about three pounds of baby weight. And I'm happy about that. But things are not as they seem, and the weight is not where I left it, if that makes sense. The number on the scale is about the same as it was pre-baby, but my body looks totally different these days. It's weird. And wiggly. Nice, right?

Here's the deal. I exercised all throughout my pregnancy...kind of. I skipped most of the first trimester because I was just SO TIRED, but once I got that second-trimester-energy-burst, I was back at it. I kept up with BodyPump and cardio (no running, because it just didn't feel good, but elliptical, treadmill walking, etc.) and continued working out in some capacity until about 38 weeks. I was pretty proud of myself, and even though I gained almost 40 pounds while pregnant, it never seemed like so much and I was pleased that I never "looked pregnant" anywhere but in my midsection. Yay, pregnancy fitness.

Then I delivered a baby via C-section and was completely knocked on my ass with recovery. Seriously, guys - a C-section is no joke. In fact, it is major abdominal surgery. (Who knew?!) It is awful. It literally never occurred to me that I might have a C-section versus a vaginal birth, and it certainly never crossed my mind that recovery from that surgery would be intensely painful and slow and hard. The whole thing pretty much sucked. I don't recommend it.

Apart from taking the baby for walks and pushing the stroller, I didn't do anything in the way of exercise for a full two months following delivery. I took it easy and worked on making sure I recovered well. Then, I was given the go-ahead for activity at 8 weeks postpartum by my doctor, with the advice to ease back into it and listen to my body. Wahoo! I was excited to get back into the groove. I downloaded the Couch-to-5k app. I went to a yoga class. I bought 5-pound weights and had my sister (a PE teacher) write out some workouts for me. I was ready to go!

And then those weights sat completely unused in my basement. The C25K app got moved into a folder of unused apps so it would stop taunting me. I never went back to the yoga studio.

I want to workout. But I just can't find the drive to actually do it. Every day there are about 1000 reasons why a workout, even a short one, just doesn't happen. Most of them are baby-related (duh). What's left is, I don't have a sports bra that actually fits. It's too cold / windy / rainy outside to run / walk. I'm too tired. And here's the truth, too: I don't like how my body feels right now. Things don't move the same way as they did before. I'm out of shape, my breastfeeding-boobs are out of control, my stomach is soft and jiggly, and my muscles are wimpy. It feels like I'm starting completely from square one with my fitness, and that's not a very nice feeling. It's discouraging. I worked hard for years to get to a place where I was happy with my body, and I was strong and confident. Pregnancy pretty much turned everything upside down in that arena, and now I "get" to start from the bottom. Awesome.

So it's easy to see why I've lost my fitness mojo, right? I know that it doesn't have to be all or nothing, and I can start to find ways to work a little bit of exercise in. I see all these other moms who are doing it (the "benefits" of social media, right?) It's just frustrating to think about starting again, and therefore I'm avoiding it. I push the thoughts of sweat from my head and  I opt instead to just sit on my squishy butt on the couch at the end of the day.

There's no real point to this other than to say, this is what life looks like right now. It's not how I expected it to be at this point, but really, nothing about pregnancy / birth / motherhood has been. Why should fitness be any different? This "season" of life is full of steep learning curves, I'm finding. What a surprise! (sarcasm.)

PS: I registered to run a five-mile race in the middle of May. I thought maybe that would inspire me to get moving. So far, not so much.

The fastest January ever

If I had the time or energy or brain-power these days to write regular blog posts, I would have told you about a lot of things that happened in January. Believe it or not, things happened besides the birth of my son (and that in itself is a weird sentence to write!). The baby was born at the beginning of the month, and plenty happened after that. Let's see...

The week the baby was born was also the week of my birthday! We took a trip to Target (big deal!) and I cashed in my birthday reward from Starbucks (venti - win, decaf - sad) and then celebrated with pizza, salad, and ice cream cake with my family and some friends. I finished the night cuddling with a very snuggly newborn. It was wonderful. It took me until last week to realize that I turned 29 - I never really had time to process that or the fact that I will turn 30 next year!! Yikes. I'm already planning a joint birthday party for me and the baby - perhaps a walking and wine theme, anyone? Sounds good to me!

My poor cat with psychological issues, my "original baby," developed an ear infection and then an ear hematoma (it's gross, don't google it!), and had to have surgery and stay the night at the vet. He is currently wearing an "Elizabethan" collar for another week and it's likely that all the work we've done to normalize him and get him to trust and love us over the last few years will be completely undone by the combination of bringing a baby home and having surgery. Sigh. 

C and I had our first date since the baby was born! Last weekend, we went to visit my in-laws, and we decided to get takeout for dinner. We bravely left the baby with his grandparents (who were MORE than happy to let that happen), and enjoyed an hour of alone time with beers and an appetizer while waiting for our dinner order to be prepared. It was a little bit horrible and a lot wonderful. We definitely needed the time to recharge our "couple" batteries! 

My mom came to help out while she had some snow days, and over the course of two days, she insisted that I not only shower, but go get a pedicure and dye my hair. (Not in a mean way, of course - just in the "you need to take care of you" way.) I am now rocking some freshly painted tootsies, and I've hidden all my gray hairs for at least a couple of weeks. It was very refreshing!

We survived the Blizzard of 2016. Winter Storm Jonas dumped over a foot of snow in our area, and more than two feet in other places! The area essentially shut down for a week, believe it or not. The baby could not have cared less about his first experience with snow. Poor C had to do all our shoveling on his own, as my C-section recovery kept me from being able to help. Obviously, I felt horrible about that... We cooked a lot, watched a lot of Netflix, and snuggled a lot. It was also really nice when the world started turning again and we were able to get back to real life!

As per usual for Virginia, we followed a blizzard with a couple of days of 60 degree weather. I took advantage by getting out the stroller and going for a couple of walks around the block. Fresh air for the baby (and me) and a little very, very light exercise for me - much needed all around. I won't be cleared to exercise for at least 3 more weeks and it's kind of making me crazy. I am antsy to get moving again. I'm not sure how I'm going to work going to the actual gym into life right now (it's 20 minutes away with traffic, so an hour workout actually takes almost 2 hours... Don't think I have time for that at the moment!) so I am already trying to plan some at-home workouts and highly anticipate getting back to running. It's been a long time!!

Needless to say, January was gone in the blink of an eye. So many fun things happened, and it was an adventure to experience them with a newborn! We are slowly acclimating to life as a party of three. It's a little overwhelming, but gets better every day. I'm hoping that February will bring us a bit more normalcy and routine (and maybe a smidge more sleep) as we continue adjusting. We've got a few fun things planned, and I can't wait!

Five for Friday: the sad and the good

Five quick things, then we can all get on with our Friday. Before the fun stuff, though...

I would be remiss if I did not mention the tragedy that occurred on live news on Wednesday. I was horrified to see that two journalists were murdered, and saddened to see that it happened at Smith Mountain Lake. As many people know, my family has a house on SML, and we consider the lake to be a serene refuge from the "real world." Bridgewater Plaza, where the incident occurred, is a place that we have frequented over the years, and it broke my heart to see this tragedy unfold at a place that I consider one of my homes. It has been a sad week for the lake community, the news community, and the Hokie family, as one of the journalists was a VT grad. Keep them and the victims' families in your hearts, if you can.

Deep breath. OK. Let's do our five things!

1 // C made meatball pita sandwiches with homemade tzatziki on Tuesday night. I always kind of forget how much I love tzatziki, and then when I have it, I feel like I could drink a bowlful. Seriously. Garlic breath doesn't scare me. It's just so good. Try this recipe if you've never made it at home.

2 // We just bought tickets for a Hokie football game this fall, and I am beside myself with excitement. Can't wait to get "home" to Lane Stadium!! It will be baby's "first" football game (and possibly my first sober game... cough cough) and I know we will have a blast.

3 // In other baby news, a large package arrived on our doorstep earlier this week... we officially own a crib. Yikes. My in-laws were sweet enough to buy Baby W's bed for us, and while it's just going to sit boxed up for a while longer, I can't get over how intense that moment was when I realized that we have a crib in our house because a baby is coming.

4 // C is hosting his friends at our house this weekend for their fantasy football draft. It is intense and very, very serious, and I am very, very seriously vacating the premises for the weekend. I am planning to hightail it up to my parents' this weekend and spend some QT with them. It's my dad's birthday tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to celebrating, plus a few other fun activities with my mama. The boys will hopefully keep my house neat and tidy not destroyed, and I'll return home once the shenanigans are finished on Sunday.

5 // I've had some office requests for sweet treats lately, and it really has been a hot minute since I've brought any goodies in. May have to do some baking this weekend! Any suggestions for easily transportable favorites? I'm thinking brownies of some sort...

I told you this would be quick! What are your plans for this weekend? Send me your favorite baked goods recipe! Please :)

linking up with the five on friday girls:  Darci, Christina, April,and Natasha

linking up with karli and amy

Surprise!

Some may say it's a little early, but I've already started planning for my birthday (in January). My current wishlist includes wine (red and white, please), a wine club membership, sushi (which I don't even like), a cold turkey sandwich, and rides on lots of roller coasters.

You may see where this is going......... or you may not. Allow me to clarify why I'm daydreaming of things I will be able to have in approximately 6 months.

Surprise! Our family of two will be a family of three, come late December (fingers crossed for a 2015 birthday - mama wants that tax write-off!) Baby W's birthday is currently projected for December 31 - one week after Christmas, and one week before my birthday. Happy holidays, indeed. :)

Nomophobia

Nomophobia, per Wikipedia, is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact.

You guys. A horrible thing has happened.

I left my house at 5 AM yesterday, on my way to a business trip. I was all packed up, carrying my purse and backpack and rolling my suitcase along behind me. As I got on the train that would take me to Union Station, I realized something awful: I didn't have my phone.

That's right. I'm currently hundreds of miles from home, on a work trip, phone-less.

It is exactly as terrible as you would imagine.

I have never in my life realized just how reliant I am on mobile technology. The number of times that I went to grab my phone, purely out of habit, is startling. I actually thought at one point yesterday, "but how will I know what time it is?!" before realizing, umm.... clocks.

I am going on 24 hours without a mobile phone. Keep in mind that I have a laptop, a wireless hot spot device, and my nook, so I am completely connected to technology as much as I need to be... and yet I feel like I have lost a limb of some sort! It's absolutely ridiculous how much I feel affected by this. I'm a little embarrassed, in fact. I'm pretty sure this is a sign that I need to make a conscious effort to disconnect a bit more often. Yikes.

Can you imagine not having a cell phone for 48 hours? Has this ever happened to you? I still can't really believe that I managed to leave the house without my phone in my hand... wow.

A Weekend to Catch Up

I woke up this morning to weird, dense, horror-movie-style fog enveloping everything in sight... made for a rather ominous Monday morning! Let's hope that burns off and clears up - I much prefer the sunshine!

We have several busy weekends in a row coming up, so this weekend, we decided to capitalize on the opportunity to rest and relax. It was much needed! C & I both needed some time to recharge, and to catch up on things around the house that have been neglected lately.

I can tell you two little guys who definitely didn't mind the break. There were lots of snuggles!

Weekend activities included.... 

Lawn-mowing (not by me). 

Laundry (by me). 

Watching the Caps lose two games (blerg). 

Watching Foxcatcher (so, so strange). 

Burgers on the grill with my in-laws for Mother's Day, along with my favorite pasta salad and fruit salad - summer meals are the best. 

Snuggling with the cutest niece ever.  

Lunching with Aileen and her husband at Vivify (there is nothing better than eating outside on a patio rooftop in this case!). 

Making a giant batch of spaghetti sauce. 

Napping. 

Grocery shopping.

Nothing too crazy... but just the kind of non-memorable, memorable weekend that I like. The little nothing moments that are what truly make up our lives, right? I don't hate it.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?

Coffee Talk #9

It is just starting to be consistently warm enough to not need a jacket in the afternoons, and that makes me happy - and it also usually indicates the beginning of iced coffee season! My go-to at Starbucks or a coffee shop is a large iced coffee with a little sugar-free vanilla syrup and skim milk. Yum! Iced coffee is super easy to make at home, though! Either make an extra pot of coffee and refrigerate, or use leftovers from that morning's pot. I keep an ice cube tray full of "coffee cubes" in the freezer, and use that whenever I make iced coffee at home. Cools everything down perfectly, and doesn't water down the crack coffee. Win, win!

Just writing this down is making me want to run across the street to Starbucks and get a caffeine jolt. Must.... resist....

It's as good a day as any for a "coffee talk" post, though - won't you join me? What's on your mind?

• I took a "professional headshot" at work this morning, which must be some sort of joke... I'm not very good at being a professional or an adult most of the time. 
• It is NHL Playoff Season, and things have been tense in our house. Our Caps took their series to Game 7 (#theworst), which was last night. After several minor heart attacks, they managed to pull off a win with no overtime! SIGH OF RELIEF. On to Round 2!
• On Sunday, we met up for lunch with my in-laws at one of our favorite local places, Brock's. C suggested sitting outside on the recently re-opened deck / patio - such a great idea! It was a little chilly, but the sun felt great, and the views were picturesque. I foresee lots more meals there this summer! 
• Baltimore... So many thoughts. I am praying for peace and the safety of all involved. 
• April is the longest month ever. I cannot believe it's still not over. It just keeps going with general sad event after sad event. Get me outta here. 
• We used Trader Joe's frozen crab cakes to make crab cake sandwiches with homemade Old Bay aioli for dinner last night. That was an excellent decision. 
• On a sunny afternoon a few weeks ago, my boss and I went for a quick walk around the Mall to get some Vitamin D and talk through a few things going on in the office. I am definitely guilty of forgetting the beauty of DC - it's so easy to look past when you see it every day. Stop and smell the roses, right?

• I am currently a super guilty cat mama because I accidentally locked Mac in the guest room before I left for work yesterday morning. Poor baby spent the whole day trapped in there! He got extra dinner and snuggles to make up for it, but I still feel bad.
• C's birthday isn't until June, but I know it will be here before I know it. Per usual, stumped on what to get him. I swear, that man is impossible to shop for. Anyone have any ideas??
• We went to visit C's sister and our niece the weekend before last, and they had her dressed in the MOST adorable onesie (that I may or may not have provided for them...) - could you not just eat her up?? 

How's your day going? What's new in your life? Hope you are having a great week!

The Fog is Lifting - Friday Link-Ups

I always get into a general funk for the first two weeks of April, and you may have noticed via my lack of posting (or, let's be real, probably didn't notice). The thing is, as my brain gets heavy with sad thoughts, I feel less and less inclined to write happy, frivolous posts - it just doesn't feel true to myself. Better to sit in silence than cover it up with words I don't mean or don't care about.

Ultimately, the fog starts to lift the day after the 16th, usually. It almost always feels like a literal weight has lifted. I don't know why, but the sense of foreboding and sadness begins to dissipate as soon as that awful day is gone. Maybe it's all in my head...

Things are a little different this year, because in addition to the anniversary of April 16, we are missing my grandma and grandpa, too. This was an especially hard time for my family last year, and it's incredibly hard to believe an entire year has gone by since they both passed. We were all in such a haze of emotions last spring, it's almost like that whole part of year went by without us noticing. It's been hard to catch up.

All that said, I am still so happy about the birth of our niece last Sunday - and I'm looking forward to her being a little shining, bright spot in the years to come during what is always a very sad month for me. I am trying not to dwell on it too much, but I do think it's more than a coincidence that her birth came so closely to a few dates that I associate with so much death. The circle of life and all that, right? Thank you all so much for your sweet words on my Monday post, and your kindness yesterday, as well. It means a lot!

Today is a beautiful, brilliant day in DC, and I am hoping to get outside around lunchtime to get a little Vitamin D. The sunshine certainly does me good. I'll leave you with five thoughts for this Friday...

1 // Yesterday was taco night in our house (because tacos make me happy) and I attempted to make my mom's famous Spanish rice for the first time ever. I am thrilled to report that I was successful - and it was DELICIOUS. Winner, winner, chicken taco dinner.

2 // How gorgeous is this blouse that Kristen linked to this morning? I cannot afford such things, but dang is it pretty.

3 // We have not yet had time this spring to address the jungle that is our yard, so that is on deck for tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be sunny and 80 tomorrow - I have a date with a lawnmower and some sunscreen. Here's hoping we can tame the beast!

4 // I read this article by Kristina Anderson yesterday discussing how to honor the anniversary of a tragedy, and it really resonated with me. Everyone remembers / honors / handles it differently. There is generally no wrong way. That was reassuring to me.

5 // let's make this a two-fer and throw in a little can't live without... I present to you the best travel mug ever. This baby comes with me to work every day, carrying the liquid gold coffee that I need to be a functioning human. It is not cute, it is not pretty, but it is legit. No travel mug I've ever used before is so good at keeping hot liquid hot AND it's totally spill-proof (as long as I remember to close the top!) I once forgot my coffee at home on the counter and found it 12 hours later....... still warm. Not lying. I will never own another!

Happy Friday, friends. Have a wonderful weekend.

linking up with stephanie, cait, and laura

linking up with the five on friday girls:  Darci, Christina, April,and Natasha

linking up with karli and amy

8 Years

Each year, I think that this will be the year when I am finally able to find the words to explain all my thoughts and feelings, but when I sit down to write, nothing comes. Each year, I think it will be different and maybe this day won't hurt so badly, but the pain is still fresh and the memories are still so vivid. Eight years have passed since that horrible day on my college campus, and it always amazes me how that feels both like a lifetime and like no time at all. Funny how that works.

From darkness, there always comes light. From pain, comes incredible strength.

I am proud of many things in my life, but especially proud to be a Hokie, today and every day.

Previous April 16 posts here and here.

April Showers Bring... A Surprise!

This was our last weekend out of too many in a row that was booked with some big plans - which included back-to-back showers on Saturday. Why have just one, when you can have several?

I started out by hosting a French-themed brunch baby shower for Stephanie on Saturday morning. Aileen and Molly helped put together a lovely event that came together so simply and easily - I fully recommend having brunch for any shower, because the food is easy to make in advance, allows for a great combination of sweet and savory, and... who doesn't love mimosas??

Aileen made an adorable banner, and Molly brought beautiful bunches of hydrangeas to set out around the living room and kitchen. Along with a huge spread of food and a mimosa bar with various flavors of juice, we had the doors and windows open for some fresh air, and Aileen made delicious Macaron favors. It was perfect.

It was fun to see the girls from our book club, and also get a chance to meet some of Stephanie's older friends: she had several come from Northern Virginia that she has known since high school! So sweet. We spent the morning talking, eating, and oohing and awwing over adorable baby clothes and gifts. Tiny outfits are the best!

After the party, I had just enough time to get the house cleaned up and semi-back together and hang out with C for a few before heading up the road to Woodbridge: it was time for Brittany's bridal shower! Her mom put together a beautiful shower with friends and neighbors old and new, and we got another chance to celebrate Brittany's upcoming wedding.

Unfortunately, my phone was dead and I completely forgot that I had my real camera with me, so I didn't manage to get many pictures. Bummer! At least I was busy being "in the moment," right? Hard to believe that the next big event will be the wedding! It'll be here before we know it.

While that probably would have been enough excitement for one weekend, what's a little more? April showers bring... May flowers a big surprise! I've been saying for weeks now that I just needed to get through this weekend, and then C & I could have some down time and wait for our niece to be born. This was the last weekend with things we had to do, and then I intentionally left several weekends in a row of no plans, so that we could be available whenever the baby decided to come.

Well, she apparently took my advice to heart, because I woke up Sunday morning to some unexpected news: it was baby day! Baby Girl waited exactly as long as I wanted her to, and not one day more. She made her grand debut on Sunday night, and the whole family is just over the moon about it. She is such a precious little pumpkin! I can't wait to dress her in pink and sparkles and do every girly thing there is with her - she is already so loved! And I am thrilled to have several weekends coming up with no plans so that we can snuggle and adore her. Funny how that worked out!

Saying No is Hard to Do

I have a problem: I'm really bad at saying no.

Seriously, it's an issue.

I am a people-pleaser, and a do-er, and an extroverted introvert. When invites and ideas start flowing, I almost automatically say yes. I like to do things! I like to see people! I don't like to let people down, and I definitely suffer from FOMO. I don't want to live vicariously through pictures or miss out on the fun - I want to be part of the fun. So I say yes! Let's do all those things! But I always come to kind of regret that decision. I don't regret the things I take part in, but I do regret not allowing myself to say no, and give myself a little time to recover from allthethings.

Spring brings weddings and babies and parties and celebrations, and it's so much fun, but I inevitably wear myself (and my husband) down. Unfortunately, it's already happening this year, and it's not even April - we are smack-dab in the middle of four straight weekends that are booked solid with plans, and I can already feel the dust and laundry piling up in the house, my stress levels increasing, and my sleep levels decreasing. It takes a toll on my total well-being!

For a while, C and I had an agreement that I had to literally schedule one weekend per month during which we would have absolutely no plans, so that we could do the things that need to be done: laundry, housework, yard work, grocery shopping. There was a time when I would write in my calendar, "DO NOT MAKE PLANS," and leave that weekend empty. Looking at my spring schedule, I'm pretty sure I need to reenact that rule. Here's to making an effort to gently and firmly saying no sometimes, so that I don't actually lose my mind.

How do you say no? Do you suffer from FOMO?

Coffee Talk #8

Today is the worst kind of Wednesday - gray, wet, and slightly chilly. It makes the idea of doing almost anything productive fly straight out the window... or at least straight under a cozy blanket. With a hot drink. And Netflix. Hmm.... Want to join me?

• I currently have the slightest smidge of a head cold (and so does just about everyone in my office! gross) and while searching the house for some medicine, I realized that I didn't have anything that wasn't at least a year expired... and maybe more. Oops. So I stopped at the store on my way home last night to pick up something new... and walked out with two types of cold medicine and two flavors of ice cream. Something is bound to heal me, right??
• It was beautiful on Sunday, and I cleaned the house with the back door open and fresh air blowing in. Amazing how we can go from getting almost 6" of snow one day to having temperatures in the 60s just a few days later! I was happy to see the snow and ice melting away, and relieved to say I think we've finally moved into Spring for good... knock on wood!
• The nice weather left me searching for my flip-flops to throw on the other day, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I think that maybe, in the midst of the great closest clean out I did a few months ago, I managed to get rid of both of my (old, nasty) pairs of Rainbows. Dumb. But probably a sign that I really did need new ones, since I couldn't determine the "older" pair from the "old" pair. Anyone know a good place to get new Rainbows? I am loyal to those flops!
• We really need to start our taxes. Procrastination at it's finest, my friends.
• Someone tell me what this "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" stuff is. (Did I get that right?) Why is it blowing up my social media, and why am I just now hearing about it?
• We are in a dinner rut. We've fallen into a routine of making the same handful of recipes over and over again each week. Anyone got anything super good, super easy, and super quick? I need to find my old "30 Minute Meals" cookbook by Rachael Ray again...
• Speaking of dinner, C offered to make something for dinner last night that would "make me feel better" since I've got this cold.... say what you will, but I picked taco salad. Hashtag comfort food. My comfort, anyway!
• My friend, Aileen, and her husband came over last week to play Cards Against Humanity (hilarious) and hang out, and she brought a batch of her homemade Thin Mint Sandwich Cookies with her. They are so delicious, and she just posted the recipe on her blog today - so check it out!
• The coming of Spring means the to-do list of house projects is growing exponentially. Topping the list is fixing our front porch, which was damaged a few storms ago by the wind. An entire section of the porch railing was blown clean off! We are looking a smidge red-necky right now, so I'm hoping we can get to that in one of the next few weekends. Unfortunately, it probably means replacing the entire porch railing... why do a small project when you can do a big one?
• Two of my high school girlfriends are coming to town next weekend for some girl time, and I am beyond excited. It's been way too long since we've gotten together! I am looking forward to planning some fun things for us to do.
• I could really use a new purse. I'm talking a good, heavy-duty, every-day bag that can go from office to home to date night. My current bag is the "How Does She Do It" by Stella and Dot in Pewter Metallic, and if they still had the same bag, I'd probably just buy it again...but it looks like they discontinued this color. It is so versatile and sturdy and amazing. What do you use to carry your life around in? Help!

Check out my previous coffee talk posts - thanks for hanging out with me for a bit!

Unexpected Happies

Note: thank you!! for all your comments and love on my last post about bad pet parenting - I am definitely feeling better knowing that I am not alone!

It can be hard sometimes, I think, to remember to notice the little things in life and really appreciate them for what they are. It is especially hard for me to do that when we reach the loooong days of winter, when it feels like everything is gray and dreary and like it may never be warm outside again. (Hyperbole, I know, but come ON!) It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and focus on the things that stress us out, rather than the things that bring us joy.

I've had a few moments of unexpected "happies" lately - things that were semi-insignificant, but caught me by surprise and were a little spot of happiness that would sometimes go unrecognized. There are days when you have to truly seek out the positive things, but I promise you, if you are looking, you will find them.

Standard cheesy quote.
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A few examples...

• Recently, I was telling a coworker about a book I'm reading and really enjoying, but mentioned that my library checkout was going to expire before I could finish and I was bummed because the waiting list is about 100 people long (seriously). She thought for a moment and then said, "Wait! I have that book at home!" and the very next day she brought it to me. She hasn't read it yet, but was happy to loan it to me for the time being.
• I received a small award at work, given to me by a coworker, recognizing me for my contributions to the team. I work with some great people, and we all value each other very much, but sometimes it is nice to see some formal recognition, especially out of the blue!
• Yesterday, my friend, Aileen, brought over some K-cups of coffee that neither she nor her husband will drink because they are too sweet. In my house, we drink just about anything (and especially love flavored coffees!), and I'd just realized that morning that we were almost out of K-cups! Her gift came with perfect timing, and I thought of her while I enjoyed my morning cup today.

I am definitely guilty of overlooking happy events like these, in favor of focusing on more stressful or more negative aspects of my life. The truth is, when I stop and think and look around, there is always something to be thankful for and to be happy about. I just have to take the time to appreciate it!

What small thing has made you happy lately? Anything goes!

Christmas Catch-Up (Coffee Talk #7)

Well, hey there. Long time, no talk - about anything but cookies, that is! Hopefully you enjoyed the Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies series / link-up hosted by Sorority Life to Army Wife and myself, and maybe added a new recipe or two to your cookie arsenal, as well! Did you have a favorite recipe that we shared? I'd love to hear which one!

I'd love to do a gigantic brain dump and recap you on each and every single thing I did / you missed over the last few weeks, but... let's be honest... probably no one cares. I ran a half marathon on Dec 7, then I was in Michigan for a week for work, then C was in Oklahoma City for a week for work, and by the time we were both home and caught our breaths, it was Christmas Eve. Or so it felt! We managed to get the house decorated, the tree up, the lights lit, and the stockings hung just in time to enjoy our "first" Christmas at the new house. Last year, we were in Spokane for Christmas with my grandma, so we didn't get to experience that first holiday season to it's fullest. We definitely made up for it this year!

Let's do this coffee-date style - I've got so much to share, I'm not sure where to start! It's a dreary day here in Virginia, so a warm cup of coffee is just what we need.

I took Wednesday and Friday off work last week in order to truly enjoy some downtime and spend quality time with my family, which was such a good decision on my part. It was wonderful to not think about work for a couple of days. In the past week or so, I've;

• Became real-life blog official!! You can now find me at typicallylate.com - my sister-in-law and brother-in-law gifted me my very own URL for Christmas, and I'm pretty sure that's one of the coolest things I've ever gotten. 
• Hosted a variety of friends and family for Christmas celebrations and quality time, and greatly the enjoyed the sight and sounds of having the house filled with people
• Cleaned the house from top to bottom and then promptly started over again when everything was said and done
• Went on a day-date with C to see Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (so cute!), enjoy a couple beers at Park Lane, and run a few day-after-Christmas errands with the rest of the crazy shoppers
• Caught up on all of Season 2 of The Blacklist to date (why is it not back til February?!)
• Read Yes Please from cover-to-cover, wondered why I'm not friends with Amy Poehler, and began concocting a plan to convince her to be my BFF
• Attended a "contemporary" service at a new-to-us church for Christmas Eve, which was really much more like a rock concert than a traditional Christmas service.... very different, but not un-enjoyable
• Taken a long break from any type of workout and tried really, really hard not to feel guilty about it - I have enjoyed a lot of couch time, but am looking forward to recharging my exercise spirit and getting back in there
• Watched the Hokies beat Cincinnati in the Military Bowl and watched the Capitals shut out the Penguins - it's a good day in our household when both our teams win!
• Vacuumed my whole house with my mom's new Dyson, and promptly began a campaign for C to get me a new one for my birthday: I sure love ours, but it's several years old, and the amount of crap the new one picked up when I had JUST vacuumed with ours made me a bit ill - sigh
• Attended a beautiful annual brunch hosted by my former boss and got to catch up with several former co-workers that I truly miss
• Made plans to attend a Caps game with my family right after my birthday - not exactly a birthday celebration, but will be a fun way to celebrate, nonetheless!

What have you been up to? How are you spending the last few days of 2014? I'm sure I say this every single year, but it truly feels like the year has flown by. We were reminiscing about spending last Christmas in Washington State, and I honestly can't believe that was a full year ago. So much has happened this year, and we had so much unexpected sadness in my family - losing both of my mom's parents in a month was so incredibly hard, and has continued to be so - but there was also a lot of joy and celebrating this year. 2014 certainly didn't go as "planned," but I'm not sure that it can fully be classified as a "bad" year... just one that we are ready to move on from. I tend to prefer odd numbers over even, and I'm looking forward to what 2015 will bring our way.

Merry belated Christmas, and happy early new year. All my best to you and yours!

Choosing kindness

One of my most favorite mantras (quotes, words of wisdom, edicts, whatever) is "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

I first heard this saying while I was working at the hospital after college, and it rang so incredibly true with me. Everyone I met in the Radiology waiting room was fighting a battle, be it big or small. It wasn't my place to determine the size or extent of their battle, but it was my place to recognize that they were suffering, and to offer kindness. That quote struck a heart-string, and it has been with me ever since.

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Recently, I learned of two different co-workers who have been struggling with some mighty big battles. These are strong, positive, amazing women, who have never once let on to the fact that everything in their behind-the-scenes home life is not as good as it should be. I was almost dumb-founded to learn about the battles they have been suffering through, while constantly being kind, generous, and thoughtful to those around them. It stopped me in my tracks. These women have chosen kindness, and extoll it on the people around the people around them. What an inspiration!

It is a choice to be kind - one we should all make. In every interaction you have, with every person you meet, you have the choice to simply be kind. It doesn't have to be overbearing or over the top; it just has to be heartfelt. Make the choice. Deliver kindness.

[source]

I don't mean to sound preachy or high-and-mighty. I just want to share something I've been thinking about. You don't know what battles the people you around you are fighting. You don't necessarily need to know. But I am making an effort to remember that everyone has some weight on their shoulders, and the least I can do is choose kindness. I hope you do, too.

Anniversary Time-Travel

For our anniversary, I gifted C with a night at a hotel in one of our favorite "quick getaway" towns: Williamsburg! A little time traveling is always a good adventure. I flew home from Detroit on Friday morning, and then had just enough time for a quick lunch and to throw some clean clothes in a new bag and grab my toothbrush before we were out the door again. I was afraid I would be too exhausted from the business trip to be much fun, but it turned out to be absolutely perfect. We had all of Friday evening and Saturday to spend being tourists, and then had all day on Sunday at home to get caught up on house and life things. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary, and I'm so glad I bit the bullet and booked the trip, because we'd been talking about it without committing for a while. Why the heck not!

Once C found out where we were going, he did a little research, and decided that we should finally do a Tavern Ghost Walk in Colonial Williamsburg. We checked into the hotel and then headed to the historic part of town for a walking tour by lantern, complete with real accounts of ghostly activity at some of the most well-known locations in the area.

It was goofy and fascinating... definitely got my gears grinding. I don't think I believe in ghosts, per say, but I do believe in souls hanging around. Does that make sense?

 

After our tour, we decided on dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in the area: Food for Thought. Can't recommend it enough if you find yourself looking for a good meal! The owner was in the house on Friday night, and stopped by our table to wish us a happy anniversary - so sweet. We had a fabulous meal, just as we always do there, and completed the evening by popping open a bottle of champagne from Old House back in the room & toasting with our wedding flutes. Three years down, so many more to come!

Blurry and dark, but then again, we were on a ghost tour... so that's what you get.

 

Saturday was a quintessential fall day in Virginia - blue skies, sunshine, crisp breeze, colorful leaves. We made the most of the weather and wandered around Colonial Williamsburg and the surrounding shops. There was a Farmers' Market going on, and a reenactment taking place in the center of town. Plenty to see and do! We grabbed sandwiches from The Cheese Shop and sat outside on the patio to enjoy them. A quick detour to the Yankee Candle shop left with me two new candles for the house (I had a coupon! Sorry not sorry) and, at the last minute, we decided to check out the Williamsburg Winery, which we've heard lots about but never been to. Time to try it!

 

 

We did a tasting to see what we liked (there was a white and a red that were very nice, and a spiced wine that I bought a bottle of and can't wait to turn into gluhwein!), and then decided to check out the Gabriel Archer Tavern for a glass of one of our favorites. Sitting at the bar, watching the hustle and bustle of the lunch crowd, was a lovely way to kill some time. Once we decided that we couldn't delay any further, we hopped in the car and headed home to our kitties. This was their first overnight alone since we got Toby! They did splendidly - the only casualty was a bag of corn tortillas that had been left on the counter. Apparently, Toby was in the mood for Mexican food... who could blame him?

I know it probably sounds silly to say that we needed to recharge our marriage a little bit - I know, we don't have kids yet, we work the same hours, blah blah blah... but really, we did need it. Work has been draining me lately, we've gotten into a meal rut, the chores are piling up around the house. It felt so nice to take some time away together, without anyone but the two of us, and go on an adventure with no agenda. We did whatever we want, when we wanted it, and just enjoyed some quality time together. A night away from home to focus on each other was just what we needed. The last three years have been so wonderful - I can't wait to see what year four brings us!