Happiness is . . .

Cooking up (and not destroying) a recipe that my Mom or Grandma made when I was growing up and having my home smell just like my childhood.

What if . . .

Duchess Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson isn't invited to the royal nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton, but Stacy Ferguson aka "Fergie" of the Black Eyed Peas (otherwise known as Stacy from a Disney Channel favorite of mine growing up -- Kids Incorporated) is?!? That would be hilarious! These are the things that pop into my brain throughout the day and why I need a place like this to share them.

Some Kind of Record

I would like to state, for the record, that a large Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar managed to elude consumption in my home for one week (Saturday, February 5 - Saturday, February 12). This is something that has never happened before, nor will it probably happen again, so I thought I should make note of it. Then Sunday came along . . . yummers!

Happy Hearts Day!

I have a lot of love in my life and I don't take that for granted for one second. And for me, Valentine's Day has always been about that fact. Take away the chocolates and flowers and trinkets, which are all nice bonuses, and you have an entire day to reflect on the amazing people in your life; family, friends, that special someone. And while I appreciate all of these people in my everyday life, I don't see anything wrong with making a holiday out of it for celebration purposes.

Tonight I enjoyed a quiet evening at home with my guys and it was perfection. Duncan snoozed on the couch and David and I feasted on top sirloin, spinach and baked potatoes whilst savoring a bottle of delicious 14 year old wine (1998 Seven Peaks Solano County Shiraz) in honor of our 14th Valentine's together and our son's first. Cade tried some baked potato for the first time and made the scrunchiest/smelly-poop-face ever but kept coming back for more. Classic baby.

Now that our lil' Valentine is sleeping soundly in his crib, it's time for me and D to finish this bottle and enjoy our brownies and ice cream for dessert while attempting to not talk about our son and how amazing he is, the entire time. My belly is getting full but cannot possibly come close to how full my heart is. Life is sweet.

Lyrics I Love

"And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how.

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall."

-Oasis/Wonderwall

Getting Out There

My best friend of almost 23 years (my goodness, has it really been THAT long?!), one Ms. Rachele Marie, recently made her quest for love public when she announced on Facebook and her blog (Vintage Love) that she had signed up for online dating. If you know Rach, you know that this was a huge step for her; not only to make the decision to take her relationship future into her own hands but also to shout it from the virtual rooftops for all of the world wide web to hear. Instead of continuing to wait around [rather impatiently] for Mr. RFR (Right for Rachele), she is making things happen for herself and I love it. I could not be more proud of her and was inspired by her declaration . . . so I applied it to my own life.

My not having to work full-time so that I can be home with our son is very important to me and David (more on that later). I love every second of the day that I am fortunate enough to spend with Lil' Raf (minus days like yesterday filled with hours of incessant whining due to teething, when I feel helpless and just want to take the pain away). But I have reached a point where I think my son is ready to be socializing with other little ones, and mommy needs to be socializing with other grown-ups. I am very lucky to have an amazing husband (who looks forward to the weekends when he takes over much of the baby business so that I can sleep in, run errands, etc.) and supportive women in my life. Our network of family and close friends is wonderful; I know they love us unconditionally and will gladly let me ramble on about spit-up, teething, how adorable Cade is, and the like, for days. However, there's definitely something to be said for widening your social circle and making room for new comrades; especially those who are having the same experiences that you are. As a first time mom, I believe that I need this just as much as Cade does. We're both learning and growing and it will be great to have more pals who are going through the same things.

So last week Cade and I ventured out on a new mother/son excursion to the Cuddle Club story time at our local library. We met up with friends of ours (who had attended once before) but other than those two gals, everyone and everything was new to us. We sang songs, bounced, recited rhymes, interacted with the librarian and each other, and read a story together -- it was great! The best part was that we had somewhere fun to be on a weekday morning that was beneficial for me and the baby. We met some very nice mommies and adorable babies and can't wait for next week's get together!

And, just like Rachele's journey, putting ourselves out there and hoping to make some new connections is just the beginning . . .

Semi-Super Sunday

This Super Bowl Sunday was a low key one for our family. Normally we have friends over and BBQ, etc. but this year we started making plans too late and it ended up being just our little fam, including my sis, watching the game and consuming chips 'n dip at a rapid pace. I wasn't really into either team as a whole but Aaron Rodgers seems like a stand-up guy and I wasn't about to cheer on a team featuring the likes of Ben Roethlisberger; so rooting for the Packers was a no-brainer. It turned out to be a great game but the same cannot be said for the so-called entertainment line-up.

Christina Aguilera's National Anthem flub was unfortunate but forgivable. How many times in her life/career (she's been "on the scene" for about 11 years now) do you think she has sung that song flawlessly? And there she was, in front of millions and millions of people, LIVE, and boom, she left out some lyrics. I think that's all there is to say about it but was not surprised at the immediate barrage of news stories popping up, making more out of it than it was. Doesn't the media read Us Weekly? Stars are "just like us" and they forget song lyrics too ;).

And then there was the Black Eyed Peas' ridiculous shout-into-a-mic-a-thon which they called the halftime show. I have heard that the Peas don't perform well live but this was pretty brutal. I appreciated the entertainment factor that they were attempting to bring to the show but it was just a mess. The stage wasn't completely lit (did you notice that most of the V in LOVE wasn't lit up?) and the sound was all jacked up. It just didn't seem well put together. And the only reason that Usher sounded so good was because (I'm pretty sure) he was lip-synching. So, better luck next year, Super Bowl Halftime Show Bookers. Give me a call if you need some help.

Have You Seen This Giraffe?

A beloved member of our family has gone missing and I think I'm more broken up about it than anyone else. Cade is teething like crazy and when I went to find Sophie the Giraffe for him to gnaw on late last week, she was nowhere to be found. I have torn apart his room and most of the house in my search but I fear that one of the following scenarios has occurred: 1. At some point during our travels out and about in the last couple of weeks, Sophie was "chucked" from Mr. Cade's stroller and she made a run for it. Or B. Our dog, Duncan (who has been eyeing sweet Sophie since she made her first appearance in our home in July and never seemed to trust the lil' giraffe and her weak squeak), has skillfully hidden her somewhere in the house or backyard that I am not aware of. I'll do one more quick sweep of the usual places and hope to find her; and if I don't, thank goodness for overnight shipping!

Happiness is . . .

One of my favorite books from childhood is "Happiness is a Warm Puppy" by Charles M. Schulz (Mr. Peanuts himself). I still have my original copy and pick it up from time to time for a smile. I will sprinkle what happiness means to me into my musings here and I would love to hear what it means to you as well so please share when the mood strikes!

To kick things off . . .
Happiness is having my sister live nearby so that she is able to come over for dinner on a weeknight for special sister AND precious auntie time.

T.G.I.T.J.'s

The phrase "running errands" no longer applies to me. Since my 6-month-old son was born, I would say it's more like I "slow-motion walk errands". This new pace was hard to get used to at first but now when I [eventually] leave the house with Cade everything becomes an adventure of sorts (Will he poop as soon as I strap him into his car seat? Will I strap him into his car seat and then he'll projectile spit-up all over the place and require a wardrobe change?), and that makes it fun. One errand that I especially dread, and have my entire life (See also: the bane of my existence), is going to the market (aka grocery store or supermarket, which I refuse to refer to it as, seeing as though there is nothing super about the experience).

However, over the last few years I have gained a new respect (translation: I harbor less hatred) for grocery shopping thanks to the magic of Trader Joe's. I have shopped at Trader's (as it is affectionately known in my family) for about 9 years now, but it wasn't until David and I lived in San Francisco that we realized we could do one-stop shopping there. Before then we were getting some things from major market chains (who shall remain nameless) and picking up a few supplemental items from T.J.'s. But that became tedious and the major market would always win, mostly thanks to their produce departments. After a successful trip like I had today, with every item on my list checked off, and a few impulse purchases here and there (Vanilla Joe-Joe's? Yes, please!) it really feels good. Plus, I always spend SO MUCH LESS mula. That being said, I will revel in my productive trip, during which my son did NOT spit up once (*pats herself on the back*) . . . until I begin dreading the inevitable return engagement. And so the cycle continues . . .

Lyrics I Love

"And you move like water. I could drown in you. And I fell so deep once. 'Til you pulled me through." -Better Than Ezra/A Lifetime