Weekend Fun

What started off as a rocky weekend (What?  Dairy Queen is closed and I can't have a Blizzard?  Should we move to a house that is closer to a Dairy Queen or what?) turned out to be absolutely lovely and breezy.  We opened all of the windows and grilled and ellipted and watched too much TV.  I expanded The Blast's wardrobe by approximately 84 pieces.  (Girl across the street who has a little boy was having a yard sale and selling clothes for $.25/each.  And I got a pack n play for $5.  For the duration of the weekend, I sang the Subway "Five Dollar Footlong" song to Matt, substituting, of course, pack n play for footlong.  Matt has never been more excited to leave the house, methinks.)

I ate Taco Bell twice.  Why so good, Taco Bell?  Also, Matt says that if I were to go in for an ultrasound, the technician would be able to see a baby, and a chicken crunchwrap.*

I also pledged not to leave to house for most of the weekend, which meant that a bunch of those annoying little house projects that I've needed to do are getting done, and it means that I'm really feeling a deep connection with my Brothers & Sisters.  

Here's what it looked like.

Now I need to find a matching one for Mitch. 

 Reilly came to visit and to protect us from yard sale customers.

Mitch got some help with his chores.

 Clothesplosion!

 Wondering why we have all of these clothes when his father has strictly forbidden him from wearing clothes.

 As close as I could come to a Blizzard without putting in much effort.

With the guidance of a Shecky over the phone, finally cleaned out the linen closet. 

 Reilly votes that we keep the green blankets.

Now we've got to go see what's going on with that sexpot Nucky Thompson.  Happy week to you!

*Sidenote: Wouldn't it be cool if one of those baby websites would tell you how big your baby is by comparing its size to that of a fast food item?  "This week your baby is as big as a taco!"

A Need and Not a Want, I Don't Care What You Say.

PUSH POP HOLDERS!?!?

And they're reusable!?!?

Buy these for me and I'll invite you over for a push pop party.  We can dance and eat push pops and then dance some more to burn off all of the push pop calories.

Two other things I feel like I need even though I really don't.

1.  Silpats.  I need two.  I don't really need two, but I want two.  Okay, I need two.  NEED.  Think of how much money I'll save over decades of baking and not having to buy parchment paper!  See, a need!

[source] 

2.  Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  Definitely need.  Definitely.  Yeah, definitely yeah.

That is all.  Off to clean the house (which is decidedly less exciting than push pop holders)!

Weekend Fun

Friday was the last day of school for students, which meant that I basically spent the whole weekend in a state of bliss--exhausted, but happy.  So there was some celebrating, and there was a lot of gluttony, and there were early nights when it would've been okay to stay up late, and late nights when I should've been to bed early (like right now).  When I remember that school's out, and then couple that with the fact that I quit my second job a couple of months ago, I can hardly contain my excitement.  For serious.

This weekend there was gin drinkin' and baby holdin' and pool swimmin' and sun bathin'.  There was ice creamin' (WTF, David Lebovitz's Peanut Butter Ice Cream!?), and cookie bakin' and phone talkin' and movie watchin', shoppin' and margaritin'*.  

I've got a few more days of work before summer officially begins, but it's so close I can taste it.  And it tastes like ice cream.  Shoot yeah for summer!

And here's what all that fun looked like.

*That's totally a thing.

June is basically a giant beast of a baby.

 Team Opal!

Mmmmmm. . .Basil's cheesy bread!

Good way to use up extra chocolate. 

 Oh, not again!

Summer reading list comparisons.

Matt twisted his ankle, so I tied an ice pack to him, making him look like one of the ballerinas on Center Stage. 

Mitch, protector snuggler extraordinaire.  A few of those healing dog kisses 

on Matt's ankle, and Matty will be better in no time!

Well, I should probably go put out some jeans and flips flops to wear to work tomorrow.  Oh yeah, because that'll be my uniform for the next two months.  Shoot yeah!

Weekend Adventure!

This weekend I ventured to the White Hot house to meet up with Cassie, and then the two of us traveled to Hotlanta to do some serious shopping.  And eating.

Lots of eating.

And lots of laughing, too.

We were surprisingly mild in our imbibing, if only because of early mornings and old age.  Seriously, last night we went to bed at 9:30 and then woke up this morning and chatted about the weather.  Did I just turn 30, or 80?  Maybe it's the grey streaks.

Shoot.

Today's been about reuniting with my little family, and phone talking whilst driving (safety first!), and somehow managing to get lost even with a GPS.  How does that even happen?  (Well, not lost so much as taking alternate routes, forcing the GPS lady to say "recalculating" in a very annoyed voice over and over again.)

Hopefully I'll be able to stay up past 9:30 tonight, and hopefully I'll be able to come up with something to talk to you about other than this fabulous spring we've had.

Pork meatball banh mi.  Make this.  Make it now.

Henry is not my biggest fan, though he and I did share some special days when Hugh and Cassie were on their two-week honeymoon.  Cassie thought I'd doctored the video of him on my shoulders, purring away.  The next time he saw me he hissed at me and ran away.  Just a fling, I suppose.

 Listening intently to Hugh's doctor talk.  Or knife-fighting talk.  I can't remember which.

 Two longitudinal strips.

We're basically like Snoop Dogg.

Could this toad be this toad? 

 Oh, that face!

Hope you had a lovely couple of days!  What'd you do?  What'd you eat?


******Psssssssssssssst!  Don't forget to check out my reviews page to hear about the awesomepants awesomeness that is HomeGoods and to hear about how you can enter to win gift cards basically by clicking a few buttons.  Do it!******

Dear Mary. . .

Sorry I've been MIA.  Nothing's really wrong, well, except for my absolute inability to complete a task these last couple of weeks.  As soon as I manage to finish some stuff, I'll have lots to share with you.

But I can't wait until then to share these little gems with you.  They're from Sapling Press.

And my personal favorite. . .

So if you just thought to yourself, "OMG!  Mandy's birthday is only two weeks away and I have yet to buy her a card and gift," then just get me one of these.  And maybe one of these.  And these.  And this.*

Well, shoot.  Now I'm being greedy. 

*Not really with the last one.  I'm terrified of needles.

A Need and Not a Want, I Don't Care What You Say.

Have you ever been out shopping and seen something that was just so ridiculous, or so weird, or so hilarious, that you knew that you had to buy it? But then you didn't buy it because it was ridiculous/weird/hilarious and you know that responsible adults don't buy such things, so you walked away. And then for the next week you thought about that awesome hilarious weirdness and how much you needed it and so you rationalized the purchase, and went back to the store to splurge--only to find that your treasure was gone.

I've had such regrets.

Like, one time old roommate Cris and I were at TJMaxx around Christmas, and there was this 2 ft. tall stuffed cat, dressed as Santa, holding a scepter and wearing a crown. Cris and I stood in that aisle doubled over laughing for like 20 minutes laughing at that Cat King Santa.

Now is the part where I'd show you a picture of Cat King Santa, but I can't, because it was $35, and we didn't buy it because we were trying to be grown-ups. That was like five years ago, and every time I pull out my Christmas stuff, I think about that glorious opportunity that we missed, and I become sad. Time and again, Cris and I have lamented our poor decision, and every year when TJMaxx puts out their holiday stuff, I hunt for another Cat King Santa, but to no avail.

But I've learned from my mistakes. And that's why this weekend when I was at HomeGoods, I not only found, but also purchased, the greatest object in the history of mankind. (Except for maybe the KitchenAid mixer, but we can have that argument later.)

It's a porcelain roller skate.

Isn't it the greatest thing you've ever seen? It was $25, which is approximately $25 more than one should pay for a porcelain roller skate, but I don't care, because it makes me much more than $25 happy.

I mean, is this roller skate kidding me right now with its awesomeness?

Anyway, lest you think me irresponsible for spending $25 on something so useless, you should know that it'll make a great doorstop (it's super heavy), and that it can be either a groovy sculpture or a flower vase.

 It would also make a great bookend, or defense weapon in case of an intruder. I think I might even use it to store pencils.  Or to earn the respect of one Gloria Gaynor.



What else can I do with my roller skate?

Penelope and Pip

I want all of these.

Who Are These People?

Sometimes when I'm out shopping, I come across really heinous objects like this one--a horse head with a hot pink feather hat/mane tree ornamental clip--and I wonder. . .

Whose idea was this?  And who agreed with that person that it was a good idea?  Who pitched the idea to their boss?  What boss then okayed production of such a ridiculous. . .thing.

And then who was the buyer for the store who decided that their store would sell it? 

And, finally, why did I buy it?

Old Navy Prep Coat!

They're $29 right now! 

Today I bought this one.

Tomorrow I think I should buy this one.  Is that excessive?

Rationalization time. 

Now, what will I regret more: buying the second jacket (that I don't really need but really, really like) or not buying the second jacket?  When I asked Matt earlier today if he thought that I should go back for the green one, he responded, "Oh yeah. I think you definitely need it."  His words look so much better written down, where you can't see how he was wearing the "you're a lunatic" look on his face. 

But, I suppose that if Matt says that I should go back and get it, then I wouldn't want to let him down.  I mean, I don't know if I could live with myself if I disappointed him so.

Score!

You know how Target is my home away from home?  It's kind of sad, really.  It's just that Target is less than five minutes from our house, and it's nice, and clean, and if I have to get something small (paper towels, cough drops, a new pack of Pilot Precise V Rolling Ball pens), I opt to go there instead of the nearby grocery store, the one that makes me more of a misanthrope with each visit.  So, in short, Target keeps me from hating people.

And when I go to Target, because I have the luxury of time at this point in my life, I'll put that one necessary item in the cart and walk around the entire store looking for a good deal, usually whilst talking on the phone.  My friends and family must think that I actually live in Target, like Natalie Portman lived in a Wal-Mart in that awful movie that I watched once. 

For the last week and a half, every time I was at Target, I'd walk through the purse section, and look at this bag.  I am usually not a fan of bigger purses, but lately I've been carrying my camera around a lot and I needed more space.  And I liked how this one had all of the compartments and looked all weathered.  It was like I could carry this purse and also ride a motorcycle.

But it was $35, which is, in my opinion, way too much to spend for a Target purse.  But then it went on clearance for $25, which is, in my opinion, still way too much to spend for a Target purse. 

So instead of just buying the purse, I'd put it in my cart, walk around the entire store staring at it and debating the purchase.  I'd run the tag under one of the price scanners to see if there was some kind of miraculous price reduction, and then when there wasn't I'd put it back where I'd found it.

I was beginning to get nervous, though, because this was the only one of its kind at the store.  I was playing fast and loose.

So on Thursday, while walking around and talking to Chloe on the phone, I decided to be cunning and to hide the purse behind a bunch of other purses and turn the tag around so that another shopper might not notice the red clearance tag.  I think Chloe thought I was crazy.  I figured that I would wait until Tuesday (when our Target does all of their markdowns, or so I've been told), and then I'd go back (or I'd be there anyway) and see if the purse was still there and if the price had gone down.  It was farfetched, sure, but I had nothing to lose.

But then Saturday I was at Target again because we were getting low on dishwasher detergent.  I went back to the purse, put it in my cart, and walked around the store talking to Matt's mom and looking at it.  At this point I was about to cave and just pay the $25 for the bag since I was obsessing over it so.

I ran the tag under one of the price scanners just to see. 

$8.74!

Who's the big winner? 

So now I have a fancy brown fake leather purse from Target.  And tonight I wore a denim jacket. 

Tomorrow I'll be buying a motorcycle.