La Petite Chic

Buzz, Buzz

Happy Halloween from our little bumblebee!!!!

 

 

Things I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging...

• Sticking my cold feet under Jon's bum to warm them up.  Our house is pretty darn cold because we have this little rule of not turning our heat on until Thanksgiving.  That's usually not too uncomfortable, but it has been reallllly chilly this week so I've resorted to the old icicle toes to warm tush method of warming oneself.  Who needs socks?

• Baking amazing homemade cakes in my baking class.  I think I forgot to mention that I was taking a baking class.  It's one of those adult education classes and was only for two nights.  We made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting the first class and a chiffon cake and vanilla cake with chocolate frosting last night.  They were all delicious!  I'll post the recipes later if you want them.

 

• Collecting a plethora of pine cones while walking Lola.  I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with them yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something!  Last year I just stuck a bunch of pine cones in my glass centerpiece and they looked gorgeous!  I have enough collected this year to make a wreath, but we'll see how motivated I am to actually make one.

• Finishing up my first week of pre-natal vitamins and Omega-3 capsules.  I've also cut out caffeine from my diet, which really wasn't hard to do considering that I don't really ever drink soda and my cup of tea a day was easily replaced by decaf.  I drink it for the flavor and not the caffeine anyway so it was a piece of cake.  I will not, however, cut wine out of my diet until I know I'm pregnant!

• Making delicious warming chilis and soups in the Crockpot.  This week's soup was Goulash Suppe, and oh my goodness, was it delicious!  I was very proud of this effort because the chicken stock I used as my base was one that I made and froze from our roasted chicken a few weeks ago.  Betty Crocker, eat your heart out!

• Being amazed by my former college teammates.  Two of my Richmond teammates ran the Marine Corps Marathon Sunday and they finished 2nd and 14th overall for the women!!  That's out of the 18,260 people who finished!  How incredible is that??  I am so proud of them.  Makes me wonder what I could do...

• Working verrrrry long hours.  It's college recruiting season and this madness won't be over until next Friday.  In fact, it's almost 8 PM and I'm still at work.  I figured I should sneak in a post so you all won't think I disappeared!  Hold me.  And please send more wine.  And possibly a pizza.

Making Your Own Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Thanksgiving is just a month away and now's a great time to start thinking about a hostess gift if you're spending the holiday away from home.  Rather than the usual and oh-so-ordinary bottle of wine, why not bring a beautiful centerpiece for the hostess that's handmade with love by you?  This centerpiece is so easy and affordable to make that you'll want to make one for your own autumn table, as well.

Materials

• 1 small craft pumpkin
• 1 large bunch of seasonal flowers
• a few bunches of seasonal berries (if desired)
• Styrofoam circle to fit in pumpkin
• 1 floral/candle pin to hold candle

• 1 12-inch taper candle

Instructions

1.  Cut the top off the pumpkin, making an opening large enough to fit your Styrofoam circle in.

2.  Make a small circle indention into the center of the Styrofoam circle, cut to size for the floral/candle pin.  Insert the Styrofoam circle into your pumpkin.

3.  Cut individual flower stems and berries from the bunch and start arranging them until you get the desired look you're going for.  Make sure to press your flowers into the Styrofoam so that they'll stay in position.

4.  Last, firmly stick your candle into the floral/candle pin.  Make any necessary adjustments to your flowers and berries, and viola, you're done!

 

Operation Bébé

Disclaimer: Today's post is going to talk about baby making, periods, birth control and the lack thereof.  Male readers and any others who might be uncomfortable with such topics should probably stop reading at the end of this paragraph and come back tomorrow when I'll probably still be talking about how much I love my new floors.  Squee!!  Ahem.  Now, onto more important things...

The following is old news for those of you who follow my twitters, but for those who don't, I have BIG, HUGE, AMAZING news.  As of Monday, I am birth control free for the first time in nine years!!!!  As in, there is nothing preventing me from getting pregnant right now!  That being said, I can't really claim that Jon and I are trying to get pregnant.  Rather, we are not not trying to have a baby.  If it happens, we'll be thrilled.  If it doesn't for awhile, that's okay too.

You see, there are still a few things in our lives that we would like to accomplish before getting pregnant.  Those things include Jon graduating from his MBA program (Spring 2009), me getting a job with benefits (I'm currently a contractor, which means no maternity benefits), selling our condo (Spring 2009), and buying a house and moving to Maryland (Spring 2009).  Those things are all quite major and being pregnant in the midst of all of that would probably not be ideal. 

We were planning on getting my IUD* out in February and start trying then, but I had my annual exam already scheduled for Monday so we decided just to go ahead and get it out now.  I figure that it's going to take some time to get my body back to normal after all those years of birth control pills and the IUD.  My period has already made a comeback though, which shocked me because I was told it could take up to a couple of months to return!  Kind of crazy.  My GYN directed me to start taking pre-natal vitamins for at least two months before we plan on conceiving, so I guess that means I'll start taking them now just in case we have any surprises! 

Honestly, this is all kind of surreal for me.  Is that normal?  I have varying emotions from completely elated one moment then scared to death the next!  I tend to think in terms of finality, so I keep saying to myself, "Oh my gosh, this could be my last Halloween without children!"  So crazy, but oh my gosh, so exciting!!  Jon and I have talked about baby names since we started dating, so now we can seriously start to hash them out.  While on our anniversarymoon last month, we randomly decided on a boy's name after meeting a cool Californian gentleman of the same name.  Girl's names are so hard because there are so many we both like, but my maiden name Sloan has always been an consideration for us. 

And believe it or not, we actually already have two items of clothing for our unborn child.  The first was actually given to us on the night we got engaged.  My dad was in on the surprise that Jon was going to propose on our cruise, so he brought along a gift for us.  He and Jon's mom have a good natured football rivalry going on, so of course his gift to us was a Baltimore Raven's onesie to get a head start on Jon's mom!  The other onesie is something Jon and I came across in the store while buying gifts for a friend's baby shower.  It has a super cute crab on it, and since I'm a Maryland girl, Jon said that we had to buy it and keep it for ourselves.  I think it's safe to say that he's on board :) 

So anyway, that's my big news!  We're really quite excited and looking forward to embarking on this journey towards parenthood.  And look, I have a whole new category now too!  Any advice for a couple of novices?

*Best birth control ever.  Seriously.

Meet Our New Bamboo Floors

Three snagged nails, two busted knuckles and one minor breakdown later, the floors are in!!  The nails and knuckles don't require further explanation, but you're probably wondering about the minor breakdown.  I started on the floors as soon as I got home from a full day of work on Friday.  Jon had been working since about 3:00 that afternoon and by the time I got home, he already had one section of the carpet and padding torn out.  It was about midnight by the time we got finished laying the floor in the living room and started to move the furniture back. (We had to do the floor in two sections as we had to move the furniture back and forth). 

My back was aching, my arms and legs were sore and I was exhausted.  I was helping Jon lift the heavier than a hippo entertainment center back into the living room when I snapped because I just could not summon the strength to lift the damn thing.  I burst into tears and exclaimed, "I'm not a man, Jon, I shouldn't have to do this!"  I ran into the bedroom, had a good cry for a few minutes and then sheepishly made my way back into the living room where we devised a system of towels to slide it across our new floors.  Thankfully it worked and we were able to get the rest of the furniture moved back that night.

We woke up around 10:00 AM on Saturday morning after finally getting to bed at 1:30 AM the night prior.  I made us a big breakfast of homemade sausage gravy over biscuits to give us lots of energy before getting to work.  After breakfast, Jon ran out to Home Depot to pick up another box of bamboo and other supplies and I was left to put all of our DVDs away and to get started on the dining room demo.  As Jon walked out the door, he jokingly said, "I expect to see concrete floors by the time I return."  In return, I sarcastically replied, "I'll see what I can do!"  Well, I showed him!  I organized the DVDs, moved out all of the furniture (our bar, wine towers and table), tore out the carpet and padding and had just started removing the carpet tacks from the floor when he returned.  He was pleasantly surprised! 

We didn't finish everything up until about 8:00 PM that night.  The actual laying of the planks is quite easy, but you have to factor in the cutting and trimming of planks and the time it takes to fit everything together.  Then there's the molding that goes around the baseboard and the cutting of that and really, the time just flies by.  The floors look so fabulous though and were well worth all of the time it took!  I'm so proud of us...we did it! Lola isn't very pleased that we took away her warm, fuzzy carpet, but I have plenty of blankets and beds around for her to lay on.  And you know what else is great?  Our condo smells fabulous!  I love the smell of fresh cut wood, and while I know that it won't last, I'm sure the carpet was harboring odors so it's just good to get that out! 

Now, for the before and after photos.  Excuse the clutter because we had to pull everything out to move it!

Our living room before:

 

Our dining room before:

 

Lola checking things out:

 

Half-way there:

 

Jon measuring the final piece:

 

Our living room after (still in need of a little tidying up though!)

 

Our dining room after:

 

What do you guys think?  I'm thrilled with the end result!

Together

Is it bad that even with the long list of fun things we did this summer (see the sidebar to the left), that with the exception of our two-year anniversarymoon, I'm secretly most excited about this weekend? 

You're probably asking yourself, what could be more exciting than BlogHer or Jimmy Buffett or a wine festival, for goodness sake?  The answer, my friends, is bamboo floors.  Trust me on this...most of you have not seen our ugly and filthy carpet that I swear must be the original carpet the builders put down in 1989.  Yes, it is that awful.

We'll be tearing out the carpet tonight so that we'll have all day tomorrow to lay the flooring.  It's just the two of us doing all the work which pretty much guarantees that the words fuck and asshole will be muttered under my breath at least 10 times respectively throughout the course of the day.  Jon understands that it's nothing personal though.  I just get a little, err, intense, shall we say, with home improvements.  That would be the perfectionist blood running through me.

To be completely honest though, I truly enjoy doing the work ourselves.  It means more to me to say that we installed these floors together rather than we picked it out and paid a lot of money to have someone else install them for us.  I burst with pride when people come to our home for the first time and say how chic and cozy it is and how beautiful our kitchen and bathroom are.  I love the way they marvel when we tell them we did everything ourselves, from the painting to the granite to the design.  It's our hard work, Jon's and mine, and we did it together.

Just yesterday, it hit me that this will be our last autumn in this home, our first home together.  We started out here as fiancés on the cusp of our wedding and now, here we are two years later talking about hardwood floors and clipping coupons and babies.  How did we get from where we were then to where we are now so quickly?  It's all gone so fast and it's incredibly bittersweet for me.  While I'm ready to move on, excited to move on, to a bigger home and closer to the families we adore, that means that we're moving to an unknown place, farther away from where we started out and farther away from the state that brought us together.  The only thing we can truly be certain of is that where ever life takes us, we'll make our new home there together.  And I'll probably still call him an asshole when he steals my screwdriver for the umpteenth time.

Stay tuned for before and after pics.

Instant Good Karma

Beginning today and lasting until Sunday, October 26th, bring a "previously loved" sweater or coat to Banana Republic and get 30% off any regular-priced item!  All collected items will be donated to Goodwill. 

That's what I call being rewarded for a good deed!  Now, go clean out your closet and get your tush to Banana Republic to buy that item you've been coveting!  Or you could be good and get a jump start on your holiday shopping instead :)

Mama's Got a Brand New Coat!

Do you all remember that gorgeous green winter coat that I bought from Old Navy a few weeks ago?  Well, if you happen to follow my twitters, you'll know that I returned it for several reasons.  First, the petite sizing?  The sleeves ended up being too short on me!  I'm aware that my legs are disproportionately long for my body, but I'm almost certain that my arm length qualifies in the petite category because all of my suit jackets are petite and those arms fit me just fine.  Second, I didn't like how it fits around the neck.  I'm kind of weird when it comes to things fastening tightly around my neck and the coat had a very high button that buttoned right below my chin.  There are only two whole buttons on the coat and unfortunately, it only looks right if you have them both buttoned.  Le sigh...it was such a beautiful color and cute little coat!

I moved on and found another beautiful green coat in the Target circular.  I was thrilled, but when I went to buy it online, it was already sold out in my size!!  F*#$%!!  Seriously?!?!  It hadn't even been on sale for very long!  Why, Target, do you tease me?  Thus, I've been looking around ever since for a short winter coat for under $100.  It hasn't been easy.  It didn't have to be green, though I do adore that color, but I definitely wanted a short wool coat.  I have a fabulous long wool coat that I just bought two years ago, but I'm kind of over the short wool coat that I've been wearing for the past 5 years and really want a new one.

Well, hons, I found my coat today! 

Isn't she absolutely gorgeous? 

Now, for the best part...this coat is currently selling for $225 on the J.Crew website.  That means that a) it's from their current collection and b) it's not even on sale yet.  I happened to come across this gem of a coat on Ebay (brand new with tags) where the seller had the auction starting at $69 with 4 days left.  As I just had to have this coat and there were no bids yet, nor a Buy It Now option, I decided to send the seller an e-mail to see if she would do a Buy It Now on the coat.  She got right back to me and listed a Buy It Now option for just $89!!  Yes, just $89!!  (Can you guys just feel the excitement oozing out of me?)  Of course, I bought it right away and with shipping, the whole purchase was less than $100!!  The seller has a great rating and feedback, so I'm feeling pretty awesome about the whole thing!

This purchase is the perfect example of tip #4 from my Thrifty Tips list I shared last week.  Never pay full price for anything! 

Pumpkin Pie Dip

We had a appetizer-themed potluck at work today and I've been fretting over what to bring because I love appetizers and have so many yummy recipes to choose from.  I finally decided on a wonderfully creative recipe that I found on RecipeZaar last month.  It's quick, easy and best of all, it's a cold appetizer so I didn't have to worry about how to heat it up at work. 

Pumpkin Pie Dip

 

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can of pumpkin pie filling
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon of ground ginger
• apple slices
• gingersnaps

Directions:

1.  Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

2.  Add pumpkin pie filling, cinnamon and ginger, beating well.

3.  Cover and chill for 8 hours.

4.  Serve with apple slices and gingersnaps.

I served the dip in a carved out mini pumpkin which all of my co-workers raved about.  It was really so simple to make and the pumpkin gave the dip a little extra oomph!  The only thing I would do differently next time around is to add the pumpkin pie filling a little bit at a time because the consistency was a little thinner than I would have liked.  It was still absolutely heavenly.  I'll definitely be making this as a pre-dinner appetizer for Thanksgiving, but it would also be great for a Halloween party or even before Christmas dinner!

 

Tasteful, Yet Hot

Oktoberfest was wundervoll; the beer was ice cold and fresh and the weather was just perfect!  Here's proof of how much fun we had:

(Click here, then go to photo #11.) 

 

The reporter for MetroMix came up to me and announced, "You definitely win the prize for the most tasteful fraülein at Oktoberfest!"  He got the backstory on my outfit a little confused, but for the most part, it's all true.  I bought my dirndl on Craigslist for $10 from a woman who bought it as a German exchange student 40 years ago!  She advertised it as a size 10 but it looked teeny tiny in the pictures so I figured I would give it a shot.  As luck would have it, it fit my size 00 body almost perfectly!!

Originally, it was down to my ankles and since I didn't want to be a total prude, I decided to take it apart and shorten it to my knees.  I don't have a sewing machine, but I do have a steady stitch and it turned out looking pretty fabulous!  99% of the other girls dressed as fraüleins had the skanky Halloween costumes on and while I do own that version as well, I didn't think it would be the best choice to wear with my parents joining us.  Jon also got a lot of attention from his super, awesome "Das Boot" tee-shirt and I only wish he would have been around when that reporter found me! 

We were quite the pair!

 

P.S.  Notice anything different about my hair?  I got bangs on Friday!