it's the small things....

I've been sick all week for 2.5 weeks straight and battling ear infections and sinus infections and other things that don't make one a happy camper. But, I finally am on the upswing. And a few things have brightened my day lately.

1. My mama's birthday gift coming together (sorry mom you can't know what it is -- but it's a good one and will warm your heart like it is warming mine while I make it).

2. My ugg slippers. They go on my feet immediately after work.

3. When I get to tell new people my cat's name is "internet". Always good for a dinner discussion or random conversation.

4. Auntie Anne's unsalted pretzels.

5. Mini dill pickles (fridge section of grocery store, always cold). 

6. The fact that I have text message convos every night with multiple other pregnant women in my life. My baby will have some cute little baby friends.

7. the random guy at dunkin donuts that keeps calling my stomach a "he" and makes me laugh every time.

8. BONES IS BACK tonight!! And she's preg. See everyone is doing it (I mean getting pregnant, not "doing it" though I guess both have to occur in order for the former to happen...)

9. Getting thinking of you cards or emails. They make my heart have butterflies and love.

10.  Saving 9:00pm on Thursday nights for Grey's Anatomy and a chatting date with Kelly to discuss the episode.... which has now turned into discussing our lives instead most nights (besides Zola, they are losing me with the story lines).

Almost the weekend. Happy Friday Eve!

I'm starving.

Pinterest is the devil of foods. I sign in and I start to salivate. There are some days when I sign in and the ENTIRE first page is food. I am tempted to go to the store, scoop up every ingredient, and have a cooking/baking fest. And maybe that's what will happen this weekend. But anyway, let me share in hopes that my cravings subside and I can hold off until dinner time.

1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Fine, I cheated this picture does not match up with the website and recipe. But SAME concept. And a wonderful one. If someone would like to split a pan of these with me, I'm open to it. J hates chocolate, so this won't go over well in our house and instead I'll eat 24 cupcakes. Volunteers?

2. Cranberry and Cheese Dip

I think this was called "cranberry salsa" on pinterest. It looks amazing, and uses cream cheese too. Yum! I think I might give this a go for thanksgiving at my parents as an appetizer. Or maybe just as a Sunday afternoon treat while J watches football and I pretend to pay attention but actually browse pinterest and babycenter.

3. Avocado Eggs Benedict with Chipotle

I know I know I can't get away from eggs benedict. But YUM for this one. Had to be included. J, if you're reading this, and want to make me this for Sunday morning breakfast I won't argue.

4. Pumpkin Cake with Cider Caramel Sauce

This looks AMAZING. Imagine it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some apple cider on the side. And after a nice fall dinner. Maybe your husband will make it for you.

5. Lime Chicken Tacos in Crock Pot

Fine, these don't really go with the fall theme, but I am obsessed with anything we can put in our slow cooker/crock pot and come home to ready after work. Pulled pork? Yes. Whole chickens? Yes. So lime chicken tacos and a twist on some of our more "boring" recipes? Sign me up.

6. "Healthy" Sweet Potato Skins

They are healthy because they aren't smothered in bacon. But they've still got starch, and cheese. So that is enough for me to give them a thumbs up. And J looooves sweet potatos, so this would go over well in my house.

I'm totally craving some savory foods. But, I also crave crunchy fresh foods and had a salad and fruit for lunch today (by choice). So someone pin some really good salad and fruit ideas so I will stop wanting to make cupcakes and cheesy items. 

7 for all Mankind BABY JEANS!!!

I remember the day I found 7 jeans. NOT the fake Express Sevens that came out to fool everyone, but true 7 for all Mankind jeans. I got my first pair at Bloomingdales. And my love began there. I have owned many pairs over the years, all of which last for years and years on end and that make my body look better than is realistic. But, I was twenty-something when I discovered these wonderful denim lovelies. Before that, I was into half-fashionable jeans... you know, Mavi, Buffalo. But when sevens came along, my life changed for the better. They are still 100% my go-to jeans, with a side of Citizen of Humanity now and then.

But Baby girl Walls is lucky. Today, she got her first pair of Sevens delivered in the mail. And don't look to me for the kudos, my friend Mandy sent them along. They are ADORABLE. Had to share these.

I had to hold them up to show how teeny eeny they are. I cant' wait until she fits into these!

I won't argue if someone wants to send some True Religions just for comparison, just saying...

Match.com and Neti Pot

One time, one of my friends dated a guy we referred to as "neti pot". I think he was a match.com find. Anyway, on date number let's say, 4, said guy brought his netti pot to my friend's house. And LEFT IT IN HER BATHROOM. You know, just in case he needed it. From that point forward, we called him "netti" or "netti pot" and if we are honest, after the few months their dating ended, I never remembered his real name again. I can picture his face. But all I see in my head is Neti Pot.

Anywho, I have heard many friends and fam tell me about the wonders of the neti pot since then. I've held off on it because I wasn't quite sure it was worth it. But my sinuses and headaches lately are out of control and I find myself squinting at the computer screen by 2:00pm at work because of the pain. This morning my parents came to visit, and my dad brought me a neti pot. He has sinuses like me (or maybe me like him, thanks dad) and said it works.

Here's the one my dad brought me. I thought, sure, why not?! So this evening, J is at the Union game because it's the play offs... and it's too cold for me out there. I have been sicky. Anyway, while he was gone I read these directions and gave it a go. I googled "neti pot" images and there were a bunch of people with smiling face with water coming out of their nose. I am going to say I looked more like this:

Confused, stuffy, swollen eyes half open, and feeling like this is the last resort.

So far, no results. Maybe I feel like my sinus passage is "clearer" I guess but the slamming pain in my eyes and face is sticking around for now. Maybe if I give it another try tonight before bed and then see how I feel in the morning...?

I am hoping neti pot + humidifier + tylenol/benedryl night time combo = functional tomorrow.

The things you can learn from match.com

oh good morning, hormones. nice to see you.

I had the radio on when I was getting ready  this morning, and I was listening to music as I was attempting to dry my hair... and that Brad Paisley song, Letter to Me came on. You know, about if he could write a letter to his 17 year old and self.

And I was singing along and then the lines:

You've got so much up ahead
You'll make new friends, you should see your kids and wife
And I'd end by saying have no fear,
These are nowhere near the best years of your life.

And randomly started to get tearful. Not sad, just like yeah, he's right. 17 was CLEARLY not the best time of life. But man oh man, did those break  ups and weekend party invites seem like the end of the world. I think the best time is now. Knowing who you are, having a partner who loves you for you, and building a family. And being surrounded by some of the best friends in the entire world.

Ahhhh as I said, good morning hormones, nice to see you. xo

PS how do i fix my titles?

My titles with this new template are seemingly running into my text.... but I can't figure out how to fix it in blogger. Any geniuses out there who know how to make this better?

Random: This photo was taken 4 years ago this weekend. Happy Birthday week, Haley!

this is the story of 4 penn state college grads adventure in europe....

Last week, I had dinner with my girlfriend Jayme. Now, Jayme can make me laugh all the time, even when there is not something specifically funny. But, when we start reminiscing about our backpacking trip to europe as college grads, we laugh until we cry. In fact, we even had a follow up text conversation about our trip the day after dinner. We had the most bizarre things happen to us in Europe.... partially our fault, partially random, and partially because we took an adventure that was planned out so well that something had to go wrong. Despite the trials and tribulations of the trip, if you ever get a chance to backpack europe as a recent college grad, do it. Take friends who make you laugh and as many clothes as you can roll up into a backpack.

Anyway, we hit London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome (by way of plane instead of train due to some "strike" issues) on way to Florence (home of many fake gucci bags and sunglasses), Rome, bus before ferrying (gross) to Greece, Athens, Corfu, and then back to Athens... We had an itinerary. It was the bible. We hated it by the end of the trip. But, without it, I think we may have slept on the streets and ran out of money before we flew home.

London. Our first stop. Our hostel was fine, except we shared a huge room with others. We locked our things under our beds and hoped they were there when we returned. We drank beer in the hostel bar and ate fish & chips. We explored. We argued over maps (My sense of direction has since greatly improved). We saw the crown jewels (sigh). We dressed inappropriately for the weather. We ate McDonald's (yes, yes we did eat McDonald's in Europe- and not for the last time either).  We saw a friend who lived in London at the time and explored the bar world. I broke my shoe in the middle of the street and had to buy a new pair at the Gap. The Gap. In London we did the two most american things we could: ate McDonald's and bought clothes at the Gap. Hello college tourists.

Train from London to Paris. Uneventful. LEAST eventful of our travels  should say.

Paris: I learned my 4 years of HS french & 3 years of college french meant crap. I could barely ask for "four train tickets" in the correct accent. I discovered my friends were as bizarre as me. I carried part of my blanket rolled up in my sleeping bag. Laurie had her taggie bracelet. Jayme saw her true love here, Conan OBrien (really any celeb would do). And Jess quickly reminded us this was a roughing it trip, and let's face it- she was better at it than the rest of us. Oh, also, time changes between London and Paris and if you forget that, you miss breakfast at your already shady hostel. We ate crepes. We got lost some more. This was one of the places the "itinerary" came through for us big time- we got passes to museums before going on our trip and they helped us skip lines and see things faster. And we even made it to the Eiffel tower.

Train from Paris to Barcelona.

Barcelona: Beautiful weather here and we welcome the sunshine. Jess gets her sleeping bag stolen en route. We all say "no big deal" and laugh it off. We get to Paris hostel. My sleeping bag is gone too... with blanky in it! Yes, post college in Europe I'm touring with my blanket. I guess that was a swift way to get rid of it. We went to bars. We shopped. We got lost some more. I experienced some GI distress and had to have Jayme help me figure out how to ask for "stomach medicine" in Spanish in the pharmacy. And then navigate public restrooms. THAT was roughing it. We had a beach day! I went in the ocean and a bum covered in grease (not dirt, grease) stole my beach chair. Jayme PLEADED with the bum, "Her chair" "my friend's chair" as I stood dripping salt water. We were beyond ourselves amused and mortified at the same time. Others started to help tell him to move.... but it took a relatively long period of time before said bum up and left for real. Our hostel here had the internet. We emailed boyfriends/exboyfriends/boyfriends. The drama. How much we've grown up (sort of) since then. We had almost no connection to the outside world. It was probably the best thing to happen to us.  Barcelona was also home of one of my favorite backpack europe dinners- a NON roughing it dinner that we ate on a rooftoop and devoured some amazing paella and sangria.

LOST again. But if Laurie has the map, we were trying to find Zara, not a guadi building.

And then... a backpacker's sorority girl's nightmare happened. I mean, if we are going to be honest here, it was not a backpacker's nightmare. A backpacker would have grinned, found another hostel, and rerouted plans. We had an ITINERARY. We got to the train station and Jayme's spanish got us this much knowledge: TRAINS ON STRIKE. What do we do? We go to the airport. Honestly looking back, as crazy as it all felt, I think we navigated this relatively well. We booked a flight (the next morning) from Barcelona to Rome. We would fly to Rome, take a train to Florence, and only slightly screw up our plans. We planned to stay in the airport overnight.
Do you know what happens in the Barcelona airport at night? First of all, not sleep... because you can't "check in" to your flight until something like 8 hours before. So you have to sit in the "pre check in waiting area".... where the bum who stole my chair came to visit. Okay, maybe not the same guy. But in all seriousness (and looking back sadness) the homeless congregate in the airport for shelter. And they are not the most mentally healthy bunch. After 1-2 hours of this (and let's just say some disagreements between the group) we booked a hotel and jetted from the airport to sleep in BEDS!! Real beds in a real hotel! We went to the hotel, and realized the guy actually charged us 2x what he originally said. But at that point, we were done fighting, trekking, and being awake. We slept for a few hours and hit the airport in the morning.  Before we went to the hotel, we took photos. They are some of my favorite photos from the trip.

Sleeping- or not- on metal benches.

Laurie was probabl hand sanitizing her pants for sitting on these dirty benches.

ITALY! FINALLY! We flew from Spain to Italy, landed in Rome.  Then took the train to Firenze.

Florence: I think that I have to say, our "hostel" in Florence was hands down the cutest. It was actually just an old lady's home and she rented our rooms. I felt like we were at summer camp. With curfews. Yep, we got in trouble (x2) for drying our hair "too late" at night. Too late was like 9:00pm before we ventured out to dinner. We adored Florence, but it was here we realized we wish we had wheels on our backpacks. Our hostel was not close to the train. Our bags were heavy. We complained. We bought SO MANY fake gucci/fendi/prada items in Florence. Bags, bags, and more bags. Sunglasses bigger than our heads. We shopped at the markets. We ate amazing food and lots of gelato. We took photos at Ponte Vecchio. We saw the David. We did NOT sit down to eat lunch -- to this day we crack up/bicker about this. Sitting down to lunch in Italy costs like you know, a whopping $3 more. We were supposed to be "roughing it" so we ate our paninis on the go.

We also apparently wore matching outfits?! Not on purpose...

ROMA: My return to what feels like home. When I went back to Europe after living in Rome the previous summer, I think my mom legit became worried I would stay and never come back. I do have to admit, even now, the thought of living in Roma with the art, history, food, and gorgeous people (albeit, it's true, sometimes smelly) lures me in. It's like a love story in one geographical stop. I want to bring J there in the near future. Maybe our first post baby trip. I digress. We got to Rome from Florence and I was sooooo pumped to show my friends around. Our hostel was "moderate", but the craziest thing?! One of the girls we met there (and shared a room with!), was a good friend of one of my college friends and knew her from growing up in Connecticut. Oddly, I can still remember the somewhat pungent odor of our lovely living arrangements and still wonder what it was. We made one mistake in Rome- we ate at the first restaurant we came to along the way because we were starving. It was a chinese italian restaurant. The owners were literally from China. Hilarious and not so great. Rome was H.O.T. Jayme got sun/heat poisoning which turned our night at the bar crawl into a night with a bottle of wine playing cards on the hostel floor. We drank BBCs at Magnolia. We visited all of my favorite places. I reminisced about my previous summer and nights in Piazza Navona. We ate the best food of our trip (in my opinion anyway). And I could navigate my way around as if I'd never left (for once we were not lost on this trip). We spent more time looking at history than living it up at bars and clubs, but we still packed every minute of this stop.

See look we even saw important things like the Vatican and wore long skirts to be respectful.

TO GREECE WE GO!!!

None of us had been to Greece. NONE of us speak Greek. Not one bit. However, I was spoken to in Greek multiple times. I guess dark hair + light eyes + tan means I blend in (or my obnoxious Euro style I'd picked up by that time in the trip). And our ferry.... oh my god. We took a ferry from Rome (or naples actually) to Greece. It was full of old stinky men and a child who projectile vomited. Here we are waiting for our ferry. I love that we have probably 100 pictures of "waiting" for transportation during this trip.

Jess' backpack probably weighed mor ethan she did...

Corfu: We had to take the bus from Athens to Corfu, Greece. Jayme's mother (holy hell, if I ever recommend a place like this to our daughter, please someone stop me) said she heard of this GREAT place in Corfu that was fantastic for backpackers. Some call it the Pink Palace. It should be called Hotel California. Umm seriously, you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave. And not because you don't want to... because they trick you. On the website, I found this top 10 lies told at Pink Palace. Let's take a little look-see before we even start to get into our adventure.

Before you freak out mom, we did not sleep in other people's beds and we did not participate in lies #7-#9. None of us were interested in the hot mess of people that paraded in and out of the Pink Palace. We did meet some really nice, normal Australian guys who shared our disgust of some of the other happenings. If your child is 18 and just graduated high school, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, do NOT send them to the Pink Palace in Corfu. They will end up drunk on Ouzo and stripping their clothes off on a "booze cruise" while college grads sit apalled at the antics. However, #1, #3, #4 (it is just gross) and #10 all apply. Do you know why? What the Pink Palace doesn't tell you is that the bus only goes back to Athens every 3 DAYS. And this place is isolated beyond isolated. So you can't get their without their bus. We were literally stuck there. That being said, at least the food was included and the room was (sort of) normal. There were random donkeys on the property, the beach was warm, and the people were bizarrreeeee. It should absolutely have a reality show or movie shot there.

And those were not even the weirdest things that happened there. One morning, we woke up to a toilet seat on our balcony. Our balcony was on the 4th floor. With no other balcony next to us. We to this day have NO idea how it got there. Our thoughts of Greek nightclubs and an island adventure was hilariously wrong, but they are some of the most hilarious memories of my entire life.

Athens: Our last stop was Athens. To be geographically correct in mapping this, we went to Athens before Corfu too... If we thought Rome was hot, Athens was HOT. And also, we checked into our hotel (yep, on our last stop we stayed in a hotel, not a hostel woohoo and we watched one or two dumb american movies on TV) the guy at the desk kept asking if we were with Mrs. Flanders. But in Greek. Whoever that was, I think we said yes. He said we were in the wrong hotel. We went to the other hotel. We were not with Mrs. Flanders. We stayed in the original hotel. We toured, but kept it pretty low key. it was sooo hot and we drank more water than wine. It was the end of our adventure, and while we were not ready to leave the total surreal life of Europe, we were ready to go home...

Athens last day... lots of repeat outfits.

But.... don't worry... we ate McDonald's in the Athens airport before taking off again for the States. and Laurie bought a huge bag of Bounty candy. And we wore our Ciao shirts and spent the ride home journaling (what I'd give to find that journal and its lists... I will have to search), reminiscing, and sleeping.  The rest of the summer was a great one, but to this day I don't think I've ever had quite this kind of adventure. So if you're a graduating college senior this year, plan your trip to Europe. Bring good friends. Ditch the itinerary, but have one in case you need it. You'll likely never have three straight weeks with no responsibility to take a trip like this ever again in your young adult life.

And avoid the Pink Palace. Or you may neverrrr make it back to the States. 

truer words were never spoken...

My friend Sarah's blog links to her favorite blogettes. This morning, as I still lay in my bed (yes, it's 1:09pm, don't judge) I was perusing some lady bloggers and came across Ramshackle Glam on Sarah's page. I clicked... and little did I know I was going to find a new mommy blogger. But, this new mom looks damn good. Something to aspire to I suppose.

Anyway, I found myself reading a lot of her baby posts instead of choosing a stroller (worst decision maker ever, I might bring J to babys r us and say "pick one"). And this post just totally hit the nail on the head:

I cried in Babys R Us

Now, let's just be honest. It's not only if you are the first pregnant friend, because technically I am not the "first" of many groups. But it's when you're the closest first. Or just when your friends have never been pregnant before. And yes, on top of that, there are SO many decisions to make. And the fact that I was literally on babysrus.com reading reviews on so many strollers and carseats when I found this post was ironic. So many decisions to make! I do have to say, I am super thankful to my friends who support me and ask about baby and who actually care what kind of stroller I might pick (ahem, Kel, thanks for being on the lookout for me). And I adore when I get emails from my girlfriend Laurie with subjects like "you need this" or "I should have bought this". Because Laurie's little baby Logan is only 6 weeks old, so if anyone knows what I will need (with the small difference that L is in NYC and having to navigate the city and we're in the burbs) it is definitely Laurie.

Anyway, you never know what you might come across that makes you feel like someone gets it. And her last paragraph makes sense too. It's the best gift, it's always been a life dream. And yet, the throws of hormones and not knowing certainly bring their own challenges. I hope that I take the time to celebrate both, there will never be another time in life like this... and I'm thankful for it. So thanks baby girl Walls, you're already making me realize the importance of balance.

PS someone buy me a stroller and end my decision making.

Graco Metrolite.

Bumbleride Flyer

Maclaren Quest

So many choices! Oh! Also guess what I am working on? My blog post about my backpacking adventure to Europe after college, because I think every college grad (if you can) should do the same.

Stay safe i the rainy, snowy, weird weather out there this weekend! xo

spaghetti squash?

Last Friday, babycenter.com told me baby dot was the size of a spaghetti squash (22 weeks) and about one pound. Well, Friday afternoon as I perused the grocery store during lunch, I came across an entire shelf of spaghetti squash. And I was blown away by how BIG they are! How does that fit in me? No wonder my tummy has been in super super growing mode lately. Baby needs more room!!

That squash is almot bigger than my tummy!

people send me things and i like them and i love those people.

Fine, people technically are sending the BABY things. But they are addressed to me. And it makes me gush with gratitute. You know that song by Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 maniacs, Thank You? I know, it's a throw back. But that's how I feel about all these things we have received for baby. I love this song, I forgot how great it is. I had it on a burned CD at one point in my life. Wonder where that is... but I digress. Play this little number while you read about my thankfulness for these gifts.

First, my parents. Not only have they contributed to helping us furnish the nursery, they've bought us the most thoughtful and adorable gifts. I don't have pictures of all of them, but here are a few so far:



Pink onesie and pink hand embroidered dress- First "girl" present from mom & dad.

Bunny with yoga cards. Bunny is from San Fran during my parent's trip this summer the week after we told them we were expecting a baby!



This photo won't rotate. It's making me annoyed. But these yoga cards are such a great pregnant mama gift. My mom found them for me!

My parents are not the only ones who were gracious. We've gotten presents from friends, family, and we love every one. Not every single one is picture because some of the gifts (especially clothes) are packed up in drawers or bags so that they don't get dirty before little one gets here. So thank you thank you thank you.... Here are some of my favs that I did happen to snap pics of.

These cutie bows (I love bows) & sweet sweet card came from fellow blogger Sarah. We share our lives online, and these cute little bows arrived with an equally cute note today. So thoughtful and just a reminder of how many people are there to support Baby W!

Mr. Logan Steffa (courtesy of his mama, Laurie, I'd know that handwriting anywhere) sent us this cuuuuute owl hat. Logan, sorry that we're not having a boy like you asked, but yes, you can have dibs on baby Walls future friends! Love having Laurie fill me in on the daily happenings of pregnancy (past) and new mommyhood (present).

Grandma bought this for us... a silver sippy cup. This brings new meaning to being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. So cute & such a little keepsake. I cant wait to put this up on the shelves in baby's room when it's ready to go.

Jess found these cutie PSU infant booties. Penn State was a big part of life for a long time, and baby will love wearing these. She better learn early that she's destined to be a PSU fan! Also check out the second pic for the scale of how TEENY these are. They are for infants, not even the length of my pointed finger! So adorable.

Okay one more from the parents. SO appropriate given our house going-ons and the way J can seriously fix anything. I love these, even for a girl. We can make her wear this shirt on trips to the Home Depot because let's face it... there are many.

I ADORE the baby things rolling in. And do you know what we got today too? A Nordstrom gift box. Sign me up! Sarah sent this to us. She lives across the whooooole country, but always knows how to brighten my day. She also sent me flowers when I found out I was pregnant. This little lavender hippo is going right into baby's room and if baby is very lucky, I won't steal hippo for my own stuffed animal. She is sooooo soft!

This is all so much fun. And again, people have sent things that didn't quite make it to the blog because they are in baby storage for a bit. But I love it all. so THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! xoxo.