Weekend roundup (as seen through my phone)

So I had all sorts of good

intentions to have this post up Monday.

And then Tuesday.

And then Wednesday.

(See a pattern?)

So it's Thursday and finally happening.

This definitely falls under better

late than never.

I woke up Monday morning exhausted.

Just wiped out.

Couldn't figure out why until I looked at the pics

on my phone from the weekend.

Ah, that's why.

1 billion activities packed into a weekend.

And here they are in a nutshell...

Friday night Todd and I went to see Tron.

In 3D.

At the greatest theater on the planet.

You can read about it here.

Basically you are sitting in huge, plush

recliners and being served food

and drinks (read: beer in a glass!)

by your waiter.

Yes, at the movies.

Can we say heaven?

Todd made me get dressed up.

(I complained)

And Sophia snapped a picture of me.

Gotta love the blurry four-year old pic.

Soph and I love taking pictures with

each other in the morning.

She's the only one that will entertain me

with this activity.

Yet this morning she grabbed my phone

and turned the camera on me.

Yes, I slept in my makeup.

Don't judge.

Saturday night we were heading out to look

at Christmas lights on Candy Cane Lane

and then dessert at a yummy bakery

in West Seattle.

Prior to leaving I made a stir fry...

with teriyaki meatballs.

YUMMMMMYYY!!!

The kids at the start of Candy Cane Lane.

You can drive it, but we walked.

Hudson loved the big "choo choo train"

display in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

Sunday we took the kids downtown to

see the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton.

Here they are in front of the flocked tree.

It was like pulling teeth to get

them to take this picture.

Their photogenic Christmas

spirit is fading...

But they LOVEd the gingerbread houses.

Even if we did have to wait in line

half an hour to see them.

This was our favorite.

Afterwards we took everyone down by

the Space Needle for dinner and then

a walk around Seattle Center.
The Needle was looking exceptionally pretty.

With Christmas lights underneath.





Happy holidays to everyone!!

What's On My Phone?

A lot of Christmas activities this weekend, which I'll put together in a weekend round-up here VERY soon. But for now, some phone pics from the past week... (Oh, and go check out Jessica's site and see what's on her phone!)

One morning when I was getting ready,

Huddy and Soph came screaming into

the bathroom.

Like the house was on fire.

Or the channel had been changed from Dora.

Alas, no, but awfully close.

TL loved laying under the tree.

Until all the presents showed up.

In her silent protest,

she now lays IN the tree.

Much to the kids' disliking.

Sophia has a bad habit of getting

into the tape and literally taping anything she

can find to the sliding door, the cabinets...

you name it.

So I took the tape away and hide it.

So she found the glue.

The point?

I'm just not as smart as I think.

This week we went to Isabelle's school

to decorate gingerbread house.

Everyone had a good time.

Except this group of dads

that hung out on the back wall with their

Blackberrys to their faces.

Morons.

Sunday night we hung out around

the Seattle Center.

The Space Needle was looking glorious.

And on the way home the kids

*almost* passed out.

They looked really cute in their attempt.

What's On My Phone?

Not a ton of exciting stuff on the phone this week. But enjoy what I've got!!

Isabelle made her almost weekly

sleepover at the Coverts last Saturday and

we got this text late that night.

Epic Nerf war was going down

between the girls and the boys.

The girls look like bad asses for sure.

On our way back home from the city last

weekend, I snapped this shot of

the Space Needle with the clouds

hanging super low.

The tall downtown buildings were

also topped in clouds.

This is one of my favorite times to see the city.

It rained here this week.

I know. It's Seattle.

I shouldn't be shocked.

But it rained, like, A LOT.

One of those stupid Pineapple Expresses.

Hey, Hawaii...keep that crap to yourself.

TL likes to hang out with me

in the kitchen while I cook.

Cause I tend to drop a lot on the floor.

Which she promptly cleans up for me.

But then she sits and stares

at the counter afterwards.

Willing something good to jump off for her.

Eventually she gives up.

And starts cleaning her little round, fluffy self.

She's excellent kitchen company.

If you want a good laugh, go check out Jessica's site http://www.lowefamilynews.com/. I stumbled upon her the other day and she makes me laugh.

Happiness is...

Right now, it's these boots. Happy Birthday to me!!!

What's On My Phone?

There are a couple of blogs I read that do a little ditty each week featuring pictures on their phones. It's cute. It's fun. I thought I'd see what was on mine this week.

The other morning Soph came

bounding in bed and grabbed up my phone

wanting to take a picture.

Seeing as how I had just woken up, and knew

what I looked like, I was hesitant

but I can't resist her cuteness.

In my attempt to fully secure a front row seat

on the train to hell, I have a bad habit

of taking pictures of people that I see

when I'm out. Not flattering pictures either.

Sometimes it's their hair.

Sometimes it's what they're wearing.

But it's always me being a bad person.

This was one of those times.

The hair was atrocious. And she was wearing pjs.

At Sams Club.

In the middle of the afternoon.

A couple of days later it

was this hot mess at the grocery store.

And it's not even Halloween.

She looks like she mixed snow cone

flavors on her head.

My sweet boy turned himself

into Mr. Potato Head.

He's so crafty.

And cute enough to just gobble up.

My birthday cake to celebrate the big 3-5.

Please note my BIRTHDAY presents are

all wrapped in CHRISTMAS paper.

Lame.

But the cake was scrumdiddlyumtious good.

** Correction: All presents but the one from Wohn

were in Christmas paper. Wohn is the best.**

I gotta go, I gotta get away

I'm not sure about everyone else, but I think I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about places I'd like to travel. Some simple places and things I want to do are fairly easy to accomplish, while others need a category beyond "pipe dream, " (Bora Bora, looking in your direction, you expensive bitch!). The below list is middle of the road; still takes planning and thought, but also doesn't make your mind spin out of control when thinking about the planning and money involved. My current top five...

1. Outer Banks, NC

This one might actually get accomplished this year. We'll see. I've always wanted to go, and most definitely would love for my kids to see the wild Mustangs on Currituck. The girls would absolutely lose their minds. The five hour plane ride has always been intimidating to me, but I'm starting to think the kids can handle it. Or maybe I can just drink enough and pass out in a corner until the plane lands. Sorry, Todd, but I know you've got it covered. My kids have never been to where I grew up (the South...specifically, Atlanta) and I'd really like to take them.

2. Tofino, British Columbia

This place is gorgeous. Lord knows it would take a full day of driving, sitting at the border, crossing the border, driving some more, waiting in the ferry line, crossing in the ferry, and more driving just to get there, but it would be worth it. This is the true sense of getting away from it all. And more specifically, I want to stay at the place pictured above, The Wickaninnish Inn. Nature meets luxury; hike all day and relax in the big double jet tub at night. Sign. Me. Up.

3. Hawaii

I've had a lot of people tell me it's not worth the money to go, that it's better just to head south to Mexico. This might be true, but I've never been to Hawaii so I really don't care what they say. I want to go. I want to sit on the beach, watch my kids frolic in the ocean, and drink a big fruity drink doused with alcohol. Don't spoil my dream with reality!!

4. Alaska

Above picture is my own from our trip to Alaska in 2003. We took Isabelle to Alaska when she was 15 months old, which she obviously does not remember but I've really been getting the irking to go again very soon. And this time I want to take the train from Seward to Fairbanks, and enjoy the inner beauty of Alaska. My kids love hiking, nature, animals...this is their dream vacation, they just don't know it yet.

5. Disneyland

Okay, this is a bit of a cheater, since we go to Disneyland every year, but I love it more than I should. When I look at pictures from our past trips (like the picture above), it just makes me happy. Seriously, in a second I can take myself back to being in the park and just feel good. Our next trip is in may for Isabelle's birthday. I am both happy and sad: happy because we're going, sad because it's still 6 months away.

Back to my planning...

Good laugh

This is how I feel with my kids most of the time...

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Happy Birthday Sophia!

My little girl is four years old as of this past Friday. Happy 4th Birthday, Sophia!

Rolled the dice and came up a winner!

This weekend I went to the casino with my friend Kristi and my mom. Okay, not really, but not too far off. We went to the Goodwill outlet. I have never been, but Kristi is a regular and always seems to score these outstanding pieces. The place is totally like a casino: no windows, you have no idea of the time you've been in there digging through bins of clothes when suddenly you look at your watch and you've lost hours. Oh my! I'd seen enough most excellent finds (cashmere sweaters!) that my interest was piqued and I finally carved some time to go with her. In a word, I am obsessed with my purchases. I bought not only a ton of barely (if at all) worn clothes from The Gap, American Eagle Outfitters, North Face, and JCrew, but also Kristi hit the goldmine for me when she found a suede Coach cross body messenger bag. I've talked at length about buying a bag of this nature before (Kristi called me out on this, in fact, at Goodwill for blogging about it) but I couldn't part with the $250 to get one. However, $3? For Coach? Point me in the direction of the cashier. It's obviously got a worn look, but I LOVE that about it. It's very Indiana Jones. And Indiana Jones is really fucking cool. So is $3 for Coach.

My total haul for the day came to a grand total of $19. For my $19 I got: Coach messenger bag, red boa for Sophia, wool fedora (my mom's), Gap dress (worn today to work and received a HEAP of compliments at its cuteness), Gap pants, Limited jeans, Old Navy sweater, Limited sweater, 3 shirts from American Eagle Outfitters, jacket for Sophia from The Gap, American Eagle shirt for Isabelle, American Eagle jeans for Isabelle, North Face pants (score!!), 3 shirts from the Gap, and one really fucking cool boys jacket from The Gap. (Don't judge Wohn...fine, I admit I wear kids clothing from time to time. Happy now?!?)

Holy shitballs, that's A LOT of stuff for $19. Wild horses will not be able to keep me away from going back again in the near future. In fact, I might as well start looking for another dresser now.

My beloved bag. I would bring it to bed with me, if I didn't fear it would start a fight. And we know whose side I would take...

So functional. So cute.

And here my bag sits atop my new dresser. Yes, ALL MINE. All my clothes fit perfectly now, and I can even put my jewelry box on top. Best part? No sharing. hehehe

Dearest Kristi, thank you for the most excellent Sunday morning adventure!!! (Apologies for the crap pictures. They were taken at night and my room doesn't have enough light to avoid the flash.)

You asked for it...

A direct request was made for a new blog entry. I don't know. This is a lot of pressure. Mainly because I have not felt very inspired to write lately, and secondly because if I do write something I feel as though I should be witty. Which I'm not really sure I am to being with.

So what to write about? Here are my hot topics, in no particular order.

1. The fact that I can't figure out why little boys chose to turn to the side to look at something right when the start to go pee (yuck...and mass amounts of cleaning around the toilet). It's nasty and annoying doesn't begin to describe the mess. Man. I miss the days of potty training my girls.

2. I am suffering from a profound case of word vomit lately which can only be described as my fuck up faucet. It's like I can't make myself shut up, and this applies to all forms of communication: texts, email, spoken language. Even as I say it or type it, I know it's wrong and that I need to shut up. Yet it just keeps coming out of me. Gotta turn off the faucet. And I apologize to everyone I've offended lately. I have no good excuse.

3. The epic feeling that I am failing in all aspects of life. I know, heavy. But true. I am constantly running on empty and behind the eight ball. I abhore not having my shit together at all times, and right now I feel like it's spread out all over half of western Washington. And I also feels this is contributing to #2. I'm chasing things that cannot be caught, and need to realize on some things I just won't win. I need to step back and have the same idea with life that I do my kids, you have to pick your battles and not all will be won.

4. Good books! (Happier topics!) Currently I'm reading three (I know, I have the attention span of a 12 year old boy): The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, Catching Fire, and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Oh, and we might as well toss in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, though I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will NEVER finish this book. And I should put it on another list, cause personally I cannot recommend it as good, though I know half this country is in lurv with it. Bleech. Though I will watch the hell out of the movie just for Daniel Craig. Yum.

5. The next two months of my life.....WOW. Never mind the regular schedule of soccer, dance, swimming, Little Gym, school, work...but throw in nearly every member of my family coming to visit, plus friends visiting, travel for work and really nobody is going to see me until mid-December. At which time I will be having a full blown nervous breakdown over Christmas.

This is all I have for now. Until next time...

Bad Romance

I desperately need to get some new work-to-night pieces for winter. Okay, desperately might be a strong word. And need probably isn't right either. Alright, I WANT to get some things. Happy now? While I might be a somewhat picky shopper, I'm also thrifty and like to get the most for my money. All Saints is a rather tough store (so is Anthropologie, if we're keeping track) to succeed in getting something on the cheap. However, after much searching, watching, more watching (okay, stalking at this point), the three pieces below have finally hit super sale at All Saints. I like super sale. Correction, LOVE it. I can now buy all three dresses below for less than what just one would have run me a short time ago. And honestly, that second dress? I've been coveting that thing for months and now it's *this* close to being mine. And thus my bad romance with All Saints continues....
This dress is simple and should look really good with booties. The material seems like it could be a little thin, but I see it being very versatile as well. It would also look cute with a sweater vest.

THIS is the dress I've wanted. In fact, it's kind of silly how much I desire this dress at this point. I'm actually worried I've built it up to heights that will ultimately end in disappointment when it arrives at my house. God, I hope not. I love the shoes she has on with it, but I'd do mine in black. Mine. Mine. Mine.

This distressed sweater dress is super cute. My only concern is that it's going to show up and be completely see through. Oh well. I'll deal with that if/when the time comes. My plan is to wear it with black leggings and my Engineer boots.

Ah, winter clothes, I heart you ttttttttthhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiissssssss much.

First Day of School! First Day of School!

It's been a whirlwind of a week in our house, but nothing bigger than everyone going back to school. Or, in the case of Sophia and Hudson, going to school for the first time. That's right, my two smallest munchkins headed off to preschool for the first time this week. We've been planning this for over a year now (rather, I should say they've sat on a waiting list to get into this school for over a year now), but it's amazing the day finally came. They were pumped. We were nervous. Looking back now, I have no idea why. They both love it and it's been fantastic for them! Not a tear was shed (by anyone!) and they have both adapted very fast.

Isabelle headed off to her first day of school this morning. Third grade. Second floor of the school with the big kids. Does that make her a big kid at school? Shut your mouth. When the hell did that happen?!? I have no doubt today will be great for her. My goal has always been for Sophia and Hudson to find as much love and happiness at school that Isabelle always has; I think we're on the right track. She knows pretty much everyone in her class (shocking, I know...), and turns out her desk is right by the teacher. Just where the constant teacher's pet likes to start out. Eventually she'll be moved to the other side of the room, never to see the teacher this close again, because she is the least likely to cause problems but will be the first one to rat somebody out that's doing something wrong (she's not known as "the informer" for nothin) but she'll enjoy these days while she can.

Enjoy the peek at everyone's first day!

Huddy and Soph heading off to preschool!

Isabelle - stylish as always - outside school

Outside her classroom, while Huddy and Soph try to break through the door

Top Ten

Well, we were going to go camping this weekend, but bailed because of typical end of summer Pacific Northwest weather (read: cloudy, cold, and rain possible at any moment...so our "normal" weather). I'm a big baby, so I pulled the plug. It might happen next weekend, we'll see. So as we all sit around trying to figure out what to do with our now free weekend, I figured what could be better than looking at hot guys. Right? Right. Wohn revived the Top Ten (see her list here); I'm just throwing my two cents in there. (Edited to say you can find Crystal's list here. The more the merrier, right?)

And here we go:

1. (with a bullet) Robert Pattinson: The accent. The hair. He plays the guitar. He sings. Those fingers. Have you seen the fingers on my future husband? Dear God. And we won't even talk about when he runs those long fingers through his hair. I'm useless after that. Team Edward, folks. Let's just hope Pattinson can survive the test of time and hold this spot. (For shits and giggles, this is my old favorite picture of him.)



2. David Duchovny: For many MANY years David Duchovny stood atop my Top Ten list. Actually, we'll just call it a good decade. Loved the shit out of him on The X-Files and he's just as great on Californication. Oh, and he's half naked a lot on there. Still looking hot as sin at 50 years old.

3. David Beckham: Plays soccer = win. Sexy British accent = double bonus. Takes his shirt off a lot and is hot as fuck = ding ding ding, we have a winner! Bend it like Beckham, kids.

4. Johnny Depp: Dude is quirky as hell, and I love that about him. Another multi talented guy that not only takes on great characters and great roles (uh, Isabelle might have a bit of a crush on him too), but plays in a band. I love his quirk and nobody can do it like Johnny.

5. Joshua Jackson: When Pacey got the girl on Dawson's Creek, I cheered like there was no tomorrow. I've always loved JJ, even when everyone else was pulling for Dawson. I love that he's found a new home on Fringe, and that he has an awesome girl in Diane Krueger. Stay hot, JJ!

6. Robert Downey Jr.: Yeah, he's quirky too. Okay, quirky as hell. But, again, this just brings the quiver on even more for me. I adore RDJ. I wrote a while ago, I want him to come have dinner at our house. I want him to wear his purple sunglasses, sport his man purse, and just bring the place down. Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes have been some of the greatest things to happen to me in film.

7. Bradley Cooper: Did you watch Alias? No? Your loss. How about Kitchen Confidential? NO? Where the fuck were you? Jesus, people. If you only know Bradley Cooper because of the Hangover, you are missing out. He was fantastic on Alias and it was a sad day when Kitchen Confidential got canceled. Bradley is just sinfully cute and a smokin body to boot.

8. Alexander Skarsgard: Sweet Jesus. First off, True Blood is one of, if not the, best things on television. It's killing me to not have HBO, thus I have to wait for season 3 to come out on DVD to watch. Killing. Me. And a lot of this has to with Alexander Skarsgard. Do we have teams on True Blood? Not sure. I'm probably confusing my vampire movies/show. If so, Team Eric all the way. (And extra cheering for episodes that he gets naked!)

9. Ben Bostrom: Funny thing about my #9 is that I've actually met him. And his brother, Eric. I have a picture from where I met him at a motorcycle race one weekend about 8 years ago. Best. Moment. Ever. My dad took the picture. He told me afterwards, "I knew, no matter what, I couldn't fuck this one up." No, no you couldn't. I was all a quiver and could barely get out any words to talk to him. To this day, I have no idea what I said. My dad did most of the talking and I just stood there nodding my head like an idiot. I know he was impressed. Who wouldn't be? Ben races motorcycles. And rides bicycles. Google him...you won't be disappointed.

10. Keanu Reeves: Okay, we're breaking some space time continuim laws here to put Keanu on the list. He again falls in the line of people I've crushed on for a VERY long time. When I went to college (gasp...1994), I had a huge Speed poster up on my wall. I fluved Keanu like nobody's business. When he made a comeback in The Matrix, I was giddy. In my mind, this is the Keanu that will always exist.