Friday, February 24, 2012

The one where Mommy turns into a feminist

If I had to pick one word to describe me, it would be wishy-washy. Is that one word? I'm not really sure, but I could say yes now and ask me tomorrow, I'll say no. Maybe wishy-washy isn't the right term, but for things like politics... I'm a flip flopper.

So when it comes to things like the glass ceiling, or women's rights, or even dress codes, I've never had a strong opinion either way. If I talk to a full-on feminist for a few minutes I'll be shaking my fist in a rage about the injustices bestowed on us all. Five minutes later I'll try to channel the 1950s, with the feminist movement a distant memory and me in the kitchen, being all domestic.

OK, OK... that part never happens. I so never cook.

Somehow, despite my wishy-washyness, somehow over the last two years I've slowly become really good friends with a full blown feminist. Someone who reads books on women's rights and says "girl power" and thinks of things like taking the girls to a fire station, but only if there is a woman firefighter there to show the girls a strong, independent authority figure. Things that pre-friendship would only happen on accident, not because of some planning on my part.

So try to imagine the SHOCK I felt when I had my first, full on feminist thought.

It all started with some deep cleaning of the girls' rooms. Basically I pulled every. single. toy. out of their rooms, then stared in amazement. Because somehow all of this fit into two bedrooms.

After the shock wore off I spent several hours sorting the toys. Pet Shops in one box, Zhu Zhu pets in another. You get the idea. I even started dressing the Barbies, and that's when my feminist revolution began.

Because Barbie? She's kind of a slut. I mean, seriously, we have at least three Barbies who are only wearing swim suits, many without a top in sight. One Barbie appeared to be heading to the Playboy mansion for some sort of pajama party, and don't even get me started on the boob-to-waist ratios. No wonder girls have a negative self image by the age of 8 if they aren't blond! Chant with me! Girl Power!

OK, so there is a slight chance my anger was based on the fact that Barbie has yet to sport the muffin top I'm trying so hard to bring into fashion. Or that she drives a better car than me.

I choose to believe it's because I'm now a feminist. And my friend Beth agrees with me.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Six times the fun!

There are a lot of people who just let their birthdays go by with little-to-no fan fair. They are the people who, in casual conversation, let it slip that their birthday was the week before, and not only did they not tell anyone on the actual day, but they didn't even bring cake to share.

Sam, Addi and I are NOT those people.

If it were possible, I can say with certainty that both of my kids would love to have a parade on their birthday. A real parade with floats, marching bands, maybe even giant balloons. And it's not limited to them, oh no. Every year I look outside on MY birthday, just in case the parade goes by my window.

For Addison's 6th birthday, we mixed things up a bit from years past. Instead of a big party at home, Addi's two best friends Jillian and Sydney and MY two best friends Jenny and Beth jumped on a train to Chicago and spend the day shopping and having lunch at the American Girl Doll store and swimming at our hotel pool.

The dolls had a good time (and boy do they like their wine)

And the girls loved the AG doll store. It was insane!

The girls loved seeing their pictures on the billboard

And the pool was a perfect end to a perfect day!
Next year's party will be hard to beat. However, I really do believe a parade would be fantastic. Pretty sure Addi would agree.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Why YOU should drink lemon water!

I've always been a trendsetter. I know, I know, I shouldn't boast, but it's true. I'm always coming up with cool things that the whole world should totally copy. Squirreling (33 Facebook fans and holding!).... The blank stare (you see that everyday, admit it!).... The muffin top....

Trust me. The muffin top will TOTALLY be in style any day now. Really.

OK, so maybe I'm missing the "follower" part of being a trendsetter. But a few weeks back I decided to do something good for my health after hearing about it from two friends doing a cleanse. I started drinking hot lemon water in the mornings.
I found a really interesting article on why drinking hot lemon water is good for you and passed the information on to a few coworkers. So now, a few of us go each morning with our freshly sliced lemon, get hot water, and wait for the magic to begin. Lemon water has a lot of benefits, including boosting your immunity, increasing weight loss, lowering blood pressure, and making you more zen. I was most excited about the immunity part, because with cold and flu season here, I really want to avoid getting sick.

And, within one week of drinking lemon water each and every morning, I was home with one heck of a cold. And I was pissed.

Seriously, if lemon water is supposed to be so good for you, why did I sleep for over 20 hours on Friday? The whole family spent the weekend doing this:

Lots of cuddles, naps, and whining, without a lemon in sight. Sigh.

I'm still a believer though. 48 hours later I feel pretty darn good, which is amazing considering how bad I felt. And trust me, in a few short months I'll be thinner, happier, younger looking, and the muffin top will be on the cover of Vogue. Just wait.

L.O.V.E. some P.I.N.K.

On this day of love, the girls would LOVE to show YOU some LOVE!



And if that's not cute enough on it's own, take 45 seconds and check out Sami singing her Valentine's song, all about the color PINK. It's guarenteed to make you squint (so I was a little far away when I took the video, sue me!) and once your vision returns to normal, you are guarenteed to smile.




Happy Valentine's Day!!


Monday, February 6, 2012

23. Paint a room in my house

So, I've wanted to paint our kitchen since, well, about two days after we painted it to begin with.  Part of the time it looked OK, but depending on the hour of the day the color wasn't right.  But it never really made sense to repaint.

The kitchen and old couches
 Army green looks better with birthday cake

Fast forward to this Christmas break.  Our new kitchen table had been residing in the house since August, and it's new friend the new couch was going to be delivered soon.  The old carpet was on its way out and the painting and tiling were in full swing.  And a few days later, we were done!  The hardest part seems to be getting a picture of our entire enormous new couch.

The kitchen, after.  Notice the cute tile backsplash!
 A wider angle, with the table
 One step farther back, with part of the new couch (and Sam)
 New buffet - my wine cork corkboard made it into the new kitchen
 New living room wall decor
 Fireplace and OTHER side of the couch

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