If you're happy and you know it

Shit, now even my blog post titles are baby related.

On another note - how is it possible that it's Valentine's Day weekend? I feel like we just wrapped up Halloween, and here we are, a month and a half into the new year. 

And, on another note....happiness.....

Do you know what makes you truly happy? Like joyfully happy? 

I've just recently discovered that most of my joyful happiness is found in my son and the ability to be his mom, but it's made me stop and think about other things that give me that guttural happiness. 

Life is short (and this time of year, I'm harshly reminded of that), and so I'm really trying to take note of the things in my day that just make me damn happy...and when they're happening...to stop, think, and thank my lucky stars. 

Things like-

::: My first hot cup of coffee and the Today show. I love me some Willie Geist, I'm not going to lie. 

::: A latte in the mid morning because it feels like such an indulgent treat - and keeps me powered the afternoon like nothing else can.

::: Walks in my neighborhood around 10am. I like to see and hear the kids on the school playground, the construction of the new houses being put up, the idiots that blow through stop signs (I actually HATE that), and saying hi to the same people that are out walking at the same time day after day.

::: A clean house - and these days I'll even take a neat house.

::: When the temperature is just perfect. I think my favorite temperature is 62 degrees. And not to go completely Miss Congeniality but - you can wear whatever you want, you can have the windows open - but you can still cook dinner without wanting to blast the A/C and go to sleep wanting to get under the covers.

::: Visiting Joel in the office...because it's kind of like seeing your teacher at the grocery store and I get this mixed sense of pride and nervousness and its weird but makes me happy.

::: Madeleine Peyroux pandora station going through the house because it feels like I'm walking through Pottery Barn.

::: That first glass of wine right around 5pm, when I can literally feel my body switch into turn down mode.

::: FaceTime sessions throughout the day because they make me forget how much I miss my family

::: A new, but not hard, recipe for dinner that goes just perfectly. It doesn't happen that often lately, but it just makes me so happy when I find a recipe that turns out to be a hit. Lately, Leo has been having a lot of fun watching me get dinner started, and it's becoming one of my favorite times of day to have him in the kitchen with me.

::: The twenty minutes that Joel and I have together right when Leo goes down. It's like this perfect block of time when we can actually relax, feel like badass parents for conquering another day, and right before extreme exhaustion sets in.

.....and when I think about all of those little things that make me happy in just a random, no big deal, kind of a day, I think that I've got a pretty good life over here. 

I want it ALL

I'm not sure if I can call it nesting or just the desire for a major closet/hair/makeup/and house upgrade, but I have an itch that needs to be scratched! 

I just feel like I want everything perfect, and I want it right now. And I want to spare no expense. And I want it to be done by someone else. And then I'd like to go on vacation with a new hairstyle and a lot of calorie free cupcakes.

Is that too much to ask?

 

 

 

 

Pray for Joel.

How I try to chill the **** out

I'm not sure if it's Mercury, or that I'm just going crazy, or if it just really has been raining a shitstorm over my head these last few weeks but it's been overwhelming. I've just felt like everything, big or small, is too much - even the good stuff - so this week I've really, really, really tried to focus on relaxing at night and getting to a better mental place (without wine).

When I'm overwhelmed and stressed, watching TV and reading actually bother me more than relax me. I've found that to really zen out, I need to incorporate pretty much all of the below:

:::Phone calls - we all have our list of friends that we call for different reasons. If I need to be calmed down, if I need to vent, if I need to laugh, if I need to be distracted....I have friends that do each of those for me so it's nice to tap those resources.

:::Going outside - taking Roscoe more than around the block as the day settles is so relaxing. I normally find a reason why I can't take the 25 minutes, but when I do, I'm reminded that I love that time of day to be outside. The weather is perfect, everyone is getting home from work, it feels very cozy in my neighborhood at dusk. Sometimes sitting on our patio for a few minutes does the trick too.
 
:::Scented Candles - at 5 I like to light my candles and straighten up from the day. Since I work from home this my signal to put away the computer and try to start the night on a relaxing note.

 

::: Pintrest - normally before I start cooking dinner, I'll spend a good thirty minutes just binge pinning and totally zoning out.

 :::Hot Tea - After Joel and I clean up dinner we put a pot of tea on and when it's ready, its normally when I leave the living room to go chill out.

:::Magazines - books bother me, but US weekly is the exception to that rule so just zoning out with a few of the above (tea + candle, bath + dr.teals, etc) make for a super chill out moment

:::Lavender Bath - Dr. Teals  Lavender Soothe&Sleep is one of my top 5 favorite products in the world. 

:::Epsom Salt - if you haven't, you should try Epsom salt tonight. It's has proven qualities to relax your muscles, impact your blood flow, reduce stress and improve sleep. I try to soak in it as often as possible and can always tell a difference. 

 



:::Vix Vapor Rub - Joel is not a fan, but 'a little dab will do ya',  and for some reason, the rub takes me from physco to calm in seconds flat. I know it's not intended to do that, but like a chamomile spray, the smell and focus on deep breathing has major calming effects for me.

 

My list is very #basic but it works for me, and making a fuss of zening out helps me feel indulgent and so I try to rock the experience guilt free. Do you have any stressed out cure-all that I need???

Weekend Report

Friday night we had planned a big girls night out but half our group ended up being sick, so only four of us were able to make it to dinner. It ended up working out perfectly because I really couldn't afford a Saturday hangover.

We had dinner at City Tavern in Culver City, and because Dawn knew the chef we were treated like royalty. They had a coursed out menu for us and dish after dish came out and knocked our socks off. We were so full by the end of it, but it was one of the best restaurant meals I've had in a long while.

 

 

Saturday we made our hour by hour Thanksgiving day plan, all 17 grocery lists, put up the Christmas tree, watched football, made enchiladas for dinner and then retired to bed before 11.

 Our group of friends had a major baby boom in October. My sister-in-law said that he doctor has seen tons of October babies too, and she claims it's due to a very boring Superbowl.

Whatever the theory, we finally met sweet Hendrix who was the last bambino to arrive in October. He is just edible.

 

After brunch with Hendrix, we babysat Tucker so that Tucker's parents could catch a movie in our hood. 

 

Tucker was a little fussy because he is cutting teeth and literally the only thing that would soothe him was Roscoe.

It was pretty much the cutest thing ever - and Roscoe took his guard dog duties very seriously.

To say I'm excited for this week would be a gross understatement! My family starts getting in Tuesday afternoon and even though we will be doing a lot of prep work, I'm just so excited to be with them.

Because I'm Happy snapshots

 

Thanks to the Friends & Family sale I finished my wedding china set (seating for 12 even though I'm expecting 14 for Thanksgiving....). Of course I had to rip everything open and just get a feel for it. I can't wait to see it all officially done up for Thanksgiving!

 

The set, tablecloth & napkins are all Waterford and my placemats are Chilewich. That silly black dot that shows up on my pictures is because I'm still rocking the 4g iphone which needs to be replaced sooner than later!

We didn't want a big dinner on Friday so we hit up a wine bar (Bodega), had small plates and a bottle of wine which is our version of perfect.

Repeat offender here, but....BABIES and PUPPIES?

Speaking of puppies. I got my first "daycare-ish" note when Roscoe and was so proud I had to send the note to Joel. We're doomed as actual parents.

Joel's been dragging me out of bed at 5:45 to join him for track workouts at UCLA's Drake Stadium. I bike over with him while he runs and then we run a few fast miles. It's actually pretty fun working out with all of the ROTC and UCLA cheerleaders, but holy hell do I need an afternoon coffee come 3pm. 

Because I'm Happy Snapshopts

I want to try and snap happy and simple pics throughout the week. I capture our fun weekends, but sometimes the basic and candid moments of the week go unnoticed. To be honest, most of those little moments are actually my favorite, so I'm going to attempt to keep better record of my weekday happies.


 I had an anxious Monday and woke up on Tuesday morning to a full coffee pot, sweet mug, and touching note from Joely. He turned my whole week around

  
One of the fortunate perks of working from home, is that I can substitute nanny when friends are in need. Shelby's nanny had pink eye, so while she took a lunch meeting, I got to hang out with her cute son Tucker. Baby time is good for the soul.

Come 5:30, Roscoe knows that "Dad" is close to coming home. He can see the front door from this spot in the guest room, so he will set up shop until his BFF returns home from the day. It absolutley melts me. 

I made April's Buffalo Chicken Meatballs in the crockpot for dinner an dannnng were they good. I served them with a chopped coleslaw and our dinner was a hit. Any dinner that takes 15 minutes of prep is a win in my book.

I missed out on a margarita happy hour with friends, great books, new fall TV, and workouts that made me tick, but I hope to keep up this tradition and get better at noticing and documenting all of the small blessings over the week.