La Petite Chic

Beach Reads

You know what happens when you keep putting off posting until you get all of the photos you have on you camera uploaded?  Well, you don't blog for a week because said photos are still on said camera.  Ugh, I suck.  We took a lot of fun and hilarious pictures at the Jimmy Buffett concert last weekend and I've been wanting to share them all with you, but every time I remember to upload them, I also remember that they're in Jon's school bag.  His school bag which is at school with him until he gets home at 11:00 PM, way past this old girl's bedtime. 

So!  I still don't have the photos.  I was actually going to share photos with Honfest (from 2 weeks ago) with you all instead last night, but then our network went down.  Seriously.  So I said, eff it and gleefully read my book instead because I really can't put it down anyway.

It seems I've been on a bit of a Henry VIII kick lately.  It all started with King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes which was published way back in 1959.  It's a historical fiction novel based on the life of King Henry VIII's jester, Will Somers, who was in Henry's service through every single wife.  It was so intriguing and well written and I learned a lot of interesting facts about the life and wives of Henry VIII.  The novel left me wanting to devour more historical fiction, however, so when I saw a copy of The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillipa Gregory (author of The Other Boleyn Girl) for just $1 at a yard sale, I quickly snatched it up.

It has been such a good read thus far.  It chronicles the intercrossed paths of Anne of Cleves, Jane Boleyn (sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn) and Katherine Howard and their respective rise and falls and ohmygoodness, who knew history could be so soap opera-esque?  Well, actually, I did know that (the whole truth is stranger than fiction thing) and that's why I'm such a history nerd.  But seriously, if any of you are looking for some good beach reads this summer, I would highly recommend either one of those books. 

A year (and a day) ago, I shared the embarrasing evolution of my eyebrows.  I have no shame.

The Other Side

I survived!!  All without the second half of the sedative too, as advised by my dentist since the first dose made me so ill.  Relatively speaking, this step in the process was A LOT easier than the first several steps.  I don't have any swelling or bruising on my cheek and I awoke pain free this morning.  HOORAY!!  I still have ugly and irritating stitches to deal with, but hey, I'll take it. 

Jon and I drove down to Ocean City after my procedure yesterday afternoon, as my parents are down here all weekend with their local Ravens Roost (a sort of fan group for Baltimore Ravens fans).  I feel kind of guilty that I'm off of work even though I'm feeling fine, but my dentist told me that I probably wouldn't feel well enough to go in today.  Oh well!  My aunt and uncle are down here with their Roost chapter so it looks to be a fun weekend of hanging out with everyone.

We're heading off to breakfast because I need some food on my belly to take all of the ridiculous antibiotics and others meds that I've been prescribed.  I certainly don't want a repeat of yesterday morning's nausea episode!  Happy Friday to all! :)

A Little Bit of Life

Time sure does fly when you're having fun (or commuting) and honestly, living my life hasn't left much time for writing about my life.  Summer is normally a busy time of year for us, but last week was especially crazy with the holiday. 

It all started on Thursday when I finally got my summer highlights done.  It had been over a year since I last had my highlights done, so my poor hair was in dire need of a little bit of summer brightening, not to mention a trim.  To give you an idea of my day, it went something like this:

5:30 AM -- Rise and shine
6:15 AM -- Leave for work
7:45 AM -- Arrive at work
4:00 PM -- Head for home
6:30 PM -- Supposed to be starting my hair appointment, still in traffic
6:45 PM -- Finally arrive at my destination (the salon) 2¾ hours later
9:15 PM -- Leave hair salon
9:30 PM -- Arrive at home and wolf down some left-overs for dinner
10:00 PM -- SLEEP

To say that traffic was a bit of a nasty bitch last week would be an understatement.  Jonathan drove in with me one day and asked in incredulous horror, "Is it like this everyday?"  Well, not that bad, but yes, most evenings it takes me two hours to get home, make it three if it's Friday.  I can make it in to work in about 1½ hours, but it's been averaging about two hours lately.  I really hope that the Memorial Day holiday had something to do with it because I always thought that traffic lessened in the summer.  We shall see.  In any case, I hope to be done with commuting by the end of July.  My fingers are crossed very tightly that my clearance will come through quickly and easily.

On Friday, I had the wonderful opportunity through work to participate in a home build with Habitat for Humanity.  I spent most of my day hanging plywood on the side of a house while dangling off of four stories of scaffolding.  Not only was it a very rewarding experience, but I also had the chance to learn that I'm much better with heights than I give myself credit for.  In some areas of the house, the scaffolding didn't quite extend to the end of the wall, so I was literally hanging off the scaffolding, legs wrapped around the poles, while hammering nails and drilling screws into the plywood.  It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit I was relieved when it was time to go because it was hard work and it was terrifically hot that day, close to 90°.

I'm bringing sexy back...

The fun continued into Friday night when we met up with our good friends Allison and Ryan to see Kenny Chesney in concert.  I always kind of figured that the core of his fan base is teenage and twenty-something girls, but I was way off base...the cougars totally love him!  The weather was beautiful and Kenny put on a great show, strutting around and flexing his muscles.  It was actually pretty funny how often he flexed. 

We didn't slow down a bit on Saturday.  There were errands to run during the day and then we went to downtown Annapolis to meet up with my friend Steve, who is stationed in San Francisco with the Coast Guard.  We stayed out until 2:00 AM, longer than we've lasted in a long time!  When we finally woke up the next morning, Jon mumbled, "I'm too old for this."  Sadly, I would have to agree!

Sunday found us helping my parents with yard work, clearing out their backyard which is mostly wooded.  It was tough work, but at least I can say I came out of the weekend with a tan, albeit with a few bug bites and blisters as well.  And finally, on Monday we visited several new home communities to get an idea of what is out there.  If we want to build a new home, starting in the next month or so will put us in our time frame of moving out and actually buying in September.  Unfortunately, a community we fell in love with a few months ago just sold out of all their home sites so we'll need to find somewhere else that we love equally as much.  We found a gorgeous community just across the Bay Bridge that has views of the Chesapeake Bay, but we'll need to decide if we want to make that drive to work every day.  The actual mileage wouldn't be very far from my parents nor our new jobs, but traffic tends to be a bear in the summer due to people heading to the beach.  Still, it's on our list.

Phew!  That's what I was up to last weekend!  Taking a cue from one of my favorite food bloggers (actually, one of the first blogs I followed as well), I'm going to start looking back at where I was a year ago in my posts.  Kind of neat way to remember where I've been.

Last year, I returned to the country I called home for four years of my life.

Oh, Hello Blog

I don't think I've ever gone a whole week without blogging, save during vacation, and I have to admit, the longer you go without, the easier it is to consider just calling the whole blogging thing off.  But then I think about the friendships I've made and the thought of sharing pictures of our new home (once we have one) and our baby (again, once we have one) and those things are enough to shake that idea off all together.

So, thank you for bearing with me during this period of transition.  I realize I haven't just been absent from my own blog, but there comes a point when you just have to hit "Mark All As Read" and continue on with life and that's exactly what I did this morning.  If I missed some huge announcement, please oblige me and leave it in the comments or send me an e-mail.  I would hate to be the last to know some big, exciting news.  (Though I did catch your "I'm engaged!" post, Katelin, and I'm thrilled for you!)

I still owe you pictures from camping 2 weekends ago and I have new pictures to share, as well, of what might possibly be my best garage sale purchase ever.  I've had quite a lot of fabulous garage sale purchases in my life, so that should just let you know the extent of the awesomeness.  I'll give you a hint until I get around to uploading the pictures: it's pink and it rings and no, it's not a cell phone.

Lastly, my previous post kind of alluded to great things being in store for me and lo, it's already happening!  I had two (yes, two!) job interviews last week and they both went amazingly well.  So amazing, in fact, that it came down to me actually making the decision between the two.  The first position is for the federal government and I'm not sure I can go into much more detail than that, but trust me, it's an incredible opportunity.  The second is actually for the same university that I interviewed with at the beginning of April, and again, it's a great opportunity. 

Both of them would be a promotion and both of them would be in a comfortable commuting distance so it really came down to factors like salary and stability and opportunity, and most importantly, what just felt right.  I picked the first.  The kicker?  I won't be starting for at least 3 months since it requires an extensive background investigation and security clearance, but regardless, I am thrilled and excited and relieved to have found such a perfect-for-me position.  True, I'll be doing the crappy commute for three more months, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

To all my mom friends out there, including the furbaby mommies (because hey, we clean up poop and puke too!), I hope you had a lovely Mother's Day.  Jon and I made donations in our mom's names for two worthy causes and spent Sunday at the ballpark with my mom and dad.  Last year, before we even thought about selling the condo, we bought season tickets for all of the Sunday home games for my beloved O's and are really enjoying them.  Nothing quite beats sitting in the sun with a jumbo ballpark hotdog and a cold beer while watching my favorite team play, especially when surrounded by family.  And the great thing about loving a team that's not exactly the best team?  You can get great seats for not a lot of money! 

Here's a view from our seats (taken with my iPhone):

Ahh, Camden Yards.  One of my favorite places in the whole world.

The First Things to Go

When waking at 5:30 AM to leave the house by 6:15 AM to get to work by 7:30 AM, you quickly learn to prioritize your time and certain things fall by the wayside.  Such as...

• Updating your blog
• Shaving your legs every day
• Blow drying your hair
• Reading blogs
• Clothes that require ironing
• Accessorizing your outfits
• Twitter
• Magazine reading
• Watching shows past 10:00 PM
• Yeah, BLOGGING

It's all worth it though because I have a feeling that really great things are in store for me.  Have you ever had the urge to just fast forward through a couple of months of your life because you know that amazing things await?  I kind of feel like that right now, although I would never want to wish away any amount of time (especially summertime!) because it's all so precious.  This time in our lives is truly special and I'm enjoying spending time with my parents, but I just can't help but be excited for what's to come.

P.S.  Stay tuned for a recap of our camping trip to Harpers Ferry last weekend.  I can't promise it will be tomorrow, but I'll try :)

Paring Down

You know what completely sucks about saving to buy a new home?  The whole pesky saving=not spending money thing.  We keep a very tight budget to begin with and have always had a house fund that we put a little money into each month, but since we have aspirations for a much bigger home than what we're currently living in, we decided to dip into other areas of our budget.

Namely, our personal spending allowances.  We have enjoyed a very plush monthly allowance (which Jon never spends all of and I always spend over!) that allows us to buy ourselves frivulous things like shoes and clothes and handbags and whatever it is that boys buy for themselves.  Probably video games.  Anyhow, starting this month, our monthly allowances have been cut back by 60% each!  That's a whole lotta money and a lot less clothes for Katie! 

One visit to Urban Outfitters (where I got a steal on a super cute denim safari dress) and a visit to Barnes and Nobles (to get a novel for the cruise and to jump on the 30 Day Shred bandwagon) later and I only have $30 left of my budget!  And it's only January 14th!  And we're going on a cruise at the end of the month!  EEK.  This is going to take some getting used to. 

Speaking of the 30 Day Shred, I decided to give it a shot because the other area that we cut in our monthly budget is our expensive gym membership.  $120 a month for a gym that we rarely go to is not money well spent.  That could add up to valuable down payment money!  I tried the Shred for the first time on Sunday night and I actually really enjoyed it.  It's tough, yes, but by the time you're at the point where you think you can't go on, it's over!  I guess that's the beauty of a 20 minute workout.  I felt good enough to do 30 minutes on the Wii Fit right after.  I was a little sore on Monday but not nearly as sore as I thought I would be based on feedback from other bloggers who "Shred".  I think the push-ups killed me more than anything.  I was using 5 pound dumbbells in each hand for the other moves which I think that was a little aggressive for my first try so I'm going to switch to my 3 pound dumbbells the next time. 

Overheard in our bathroom a few nights ago:

Me (flexing my abs in the mirror):  "This 30 Day Shred is going to get me in great shape for the cruise!

Jon: "You don't need to do anything, you're solid."

Me:  "Solid?  Honey, the last thing a woman wants to hear is that she's solid.  That means thick!

Jon: "Well, what should I say?"

Me:  "Toned, baby.  TONED."

P.S.  Sending a special birthday shout-out to two of my favorite gals:

My big sis, Kacey...

   

and my lovely friend, Jess...

The Lovely Housing Market

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Jon and I went on an exploratory house hunt the weekend after Christmas and we were very excited to find that we can afford a lot more house than what we originally thought we could thanks in part to the falling interest rates.  After the past couple of years of living in a cozy one bedroom condo, we are obviously thrilled at the prospect of having more than 690 square feet of living space.  Just the thought of being able to cook in the kitchen at the same time or not sharing the bathroom sink or having a spare bedroom for guests tickles me pink. 

Before we can even consider buying a new home, however, there are a few obstacles in our way.  The most glaringly terrifying and important one, of course, is selling our condo.  We bought our home right before we got married in the summer of 2006, when it was still a seller's market, which means that we paid a whole lot more than what they're going for now.  As you might remember, we've done a lot of upgrades in the past 2½ years: installed granite countertops in our kitchen and bathroom, installed stainless steel hardware on all of the cabinetry, installed a beautiful vessel sink in the bathroom, installed gorgeous and eco-friendly bamboo hardwood floors in the dining area and living room and have painted every room except for our bedroom. 

There are still a few to-dos on our home improvement list such as replacing the carpet in the bedroom and putting a backsplash in the kitchen but before we put any more money into our condo, we want to meet with a realtor to see if it would help with our home value at all.  We have an appointment with a local realtor tomorrow in which he'll do a basic walk through of our place and then we'll meet with him again on Wednesday so that we can talk numbers.  Cross your fingers that we'll get positive feedback!

If selling our condo turns out to be easier than expected, then the only other worry we have is finding new jobs for the both of us.  I've been casually looking for the past couple of months and so far the job market seems to be pretty dismal.  It's just our luck that both the housing market and the job market is down just when we need to delve into them!  I'll be sure to keep you all posted along the way, but for now I've been preoccupied with decluttering our place and pre-emptively searching for a new home.  It's kind of disheartening actually...I've found several gorgeous houses with a big yard and everything else we're looking for, but we can't do anything about it until the other pieces fall into place.  Le sigh!

P.S.  I think those of us in the "hair grows back coarser and darker boat" totally won this unofficial poll, but it seems there are some lucky girls out there who don't share our problem! 

The Great Debate

Okay, I need y'alls help in settling a disagreement that Jon and I are having.  I told him that any woman would agree with me on this one, so I guess I should put it to the test.

When you shave your hair, whether it be on your legs or bikini line, or hell, even your back if you happen to be that unfortunate, doesn't it grow back thicker and darker than it's original state?

I realize that science tries to convince us that that is impossible, but I would love for them to prove it to me because I swear to god, the hair on my legs and elsewhere used to be light and thin and now it's anything but.  Jon thinks I'm exaggerating.  If I were to shave the blonde hair on my arms (I wouldn't), I'm convinced it would grow back darker and thicker.  What are your thoughts?

Thank you and that is all!  I'm hoping your comments will help convince Jon why laser hair removal is a wise investment and beneficial to him, I might add.

Symptoms of (non) Pregnancy

The funny thing about not not trying to get pregnant is that you start to assume that every abnormal thing your body does must be an indicator that you're pregnant.

Forgot to put the oatmeal in the oatmeal raisin cookies you baked for the husband who has been nagging you (yes, husbands nag, too) since last Christmas to make them? 

Ding, ding, ding!!  It's pregnancy brain!  You must be with child.

Notice a mini pooch on your stomach that you swear to God wasn't there last month?

Sound the alarms...it's not fat, it's a preshus baby in there!  

Miss your period this month and last? 

It can't be amenorrhea, you've got a bun in the oven, girl!  Say goodbye to Flo and her friend Tampax for the next 9 months! 

Having crazy mood swings that rival Britney Spears and make you cry and scream all in the span of one minute? 

Honey, you're not crazy, it's just wacky pregnancy hormones!  (psst...put down the umbrella)

So tired at night that you've neglected this here lovely blog and Google Reader and the only Christmas decorations you've put out are a wreath, a doormat and a few candles?

Nah, it's not the stress of the holidays nor the busyness at work, it's the fatigue of the first trimester!

All kidding aside, if I really thought I were pregnant I would not be drinking so much wine at night and would go out and buy a pregnancy test instead.  It's just funny how your mind automatically wanders to that "could I be pregnant?" place when you're not not trying.  Or is it just my mind that does that?! 

Metal Mouth

I was a latecomer to the braces scene.  We were still living in Germany during those awkward adolescent years when most kids get braces and since my parents didn't really trust the military dentists for anything other than routine procedures, I didn't get my braces on until I was a 14 year old freshman in high school. 

The ages between 13 to 15 were hands down the most awkward years of my life and braces only made things worse!  I was about 90 pounds, oily, though thankfully not too riddled with pubescent acne and still trying to find my footing in high school. No wonder I didn't have a boyfriend until my senior year!  I do have a point here: I suffered through 2½ years of braces and oh my lord, was it worth it because my smile was fucking gorgeous when the metal came off. 

Here's where I have to hold back the tears.  I had my problem tooth removed a few weeks ago.  It was an awful ordeal, one which I hope I never have to endure again.  The dentist even joked to me, "You must have really wanted to keep that tooth because it gave us a lot of trouble getting it out!"  Uh, yeah, seeing as how it took over an hour (of pain, horrible pain) to remove, yes, I suppose my mouth was quite partial to that tooth! 

My mouth has been slowly recovering since the extraction.  All my stitches are out and I'm not feeling any pain whatsoever.  That's all well and good, however, it seems as if that one tooth was holding my entire top row of teeth straight!  I noticed last week that I am beginning to get a gap in between my two front teeth!  I started freaking out and told Jon that it had to be fixed, and we ended up having a stupid fight over it because he implied that I'm vain, but hell, I did not wear braces for 2½ years to have them shift right back to where they were when I was 13!  I enjoy my smile and will do whatever it takes to keep it pretty even if that means shelling out more money to our dentist.  I still faithfully wear my bottom retainers every night, but I haven't worn my top retainers in several years because those teeth never seemed to move.

Well, last night, Jon had the pleasure of falling asleep to a wife with a mouth full of retainers.  How utterly sexy!  Before giving my dentist a call to cry about my shifting teeth, I decided to give my old top retainers a try first.  I popped them in but they didn't fit so well because a) the one side of the retainer is supposed to attach to the tooth that was removed and b) GAH-my teeth have shifted so it's a tight fit!!  I wore them anyway and was pleasantly surprised when I awoke this morning to see that the tiny gap between my front teeth has closed up again.  Unfortunately, my teeth are ACHING today, but I don't give a crap as long as my teeth look pretty! 

Is it really that vain to want a pretty smile?  I don't think so!  Jon will have to get used to me and my retainers, at least until I get my tooth implant!