the wall

I hit it. The wall. It looks like my wall went up at 37 weeks. I am constantly tired, sore, and ready for this baby to come out. Sleep is still elusive, but better. Four or 5 hours a night seem to be doing the trick for my brain, but my body needs more.

I got a massage this morning (blissful, wonderful massage of wonderfulness and sunshine and happiness) but my back muscles are stretched to the point that it hurts when they are rubbed. My legs and knees are screaming under the added weight (17 pounds total, probably 25 after the first trimester's weight loss ... blerg). My neck is bent at unnatural angles from all the side sleeping. My bras led a rebellion this week and new bras are en route. Ugly bras on which I really, really didn't want to spend the money.

Then I feel a little kick kick kick and that wall gets a teeny bit shorter. Every little wiggle makes the aches and pain bearable. And the thought of meeting him makes all those little inconveniences almost forgettable. July 21st can't come fast enough. Three more weeks!

Charles in Charge

Our book club MO for the last several meetings has been very simple. Come home, order pizza/Chinese, talk about book, gossip, go home. Last night, however, our book club was in for a treat. Courtney's husband Charles made the following:

1 - Cauliflower with tandoori spices

2 - Eggplant brusectta

3 - Cheesy garlic bread

4 - HOMEMADE PASTA from SCRATCH

5 - Turkey meatballs

The whole meal was amazing and blew our nights of take-out out of the water. I got home and described the meal to Josh and told him to step it up in the husband department. Charles was WAY ahead....

The pasta was wonderful, with the right amount of bite. Even though they were made with turkey, the baked meatballs were moist and flavorful. Courtney and Charles did a wonderful job.

Can't go wrong with cheese and bread:)

Not a very good picture (at all), but I didn't really spend that much time trying to find the right angle... I wanted to eat.

iCame, iSaw, iPhone

You turn your back for one second and this is what you get:

The Agony and the Ecstasy

I love Josh. So much. He is a wonderful guy. "Guy" being the key word here.

One night I mentioned I saw some watermelon and wished we had picked some up at the grocery store on the last trip. I came home that evening to find this:

Then the next morning, I went to pour my pre-commute OJ and opened the fridge door to find this:

WHY do boys put empty containers BACK IN THE FRIDGE!

I can't be too annoyed, he did cut up all that watermelon....:)

Boston walks

Since I haven't touched my gym card in ages (I miss you Healthworks!) I changed up my commute so I could get more walking in. Instead of taking the bus to Sullivan and the Orange/Green Line in to Back Bay, I have been taking the bus to Davis, taking the Red Line to Charles/MGH and then walking about 20 minutes to the office. It is a beautiful walk down Charles St and then through the park and the favorite part of my day. I loved seeing all the dogs and babies out and about. Even though I wouldn't be strolling through the Gardens with my stroller, it gave me something to look forward to.

I didn't have my camera on my me for all these walks, but when I did, I snapped some shots. Some are from my morning/afternoon walks and some are from a recent trip to the Copley farmer's market.

On the unseasonably hot days of April, walking through these sprinklers meant an instant smile.
Make way for REAL ducklings!
Swans on the nest.
Root vegetables are all the rage. These carrots looked amazing. IF I had bought some, I would have sautéed then with some brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. With these tiny sweet carrots, you really can't go wrong.
Beets! I wish I knew how to cook these; the look so pretty.

Even bruised, I thought this tomato was cute. There were a bunch like this in the basket. A few more weeks and tomatoes will REALLY be in season. I can't wait.

don't come again another day

If you live in the Boston area, you are probably a little confused. Let me clarify things for you. It is not April. It is not October. It is June. It is almost July. I know it is hard to believe. But this is the truth. We didn't go back in time, we didn't go forward in time. It is technically summer. I know, I know, I don't believe me either.

It has rained almost every day for the past two weeks. Two. Weeks. The end is near, right? Wrong. I checked the 10-day forecast and what do I see?
That stupid cloud over and over again. Today: Showers, Thursday: AM Clouds, PM Sun (don't get your hopes up), Friday: Showers, Saturday: Showers, Sunday: Mostly cloudy (gee, awesome), Monday: Showers, Tuesday: Partly cloudy (ok... getting better), Thursday: Showers (hmm.. spoke too soon...), and Friday? You guessed it! Showers!

People tell me I must be thrilled! 9 months pregnant and the weather is nice and cool. Cool schmool! I need the sun, dammit.

a miracle!

After FOUR nights of no sleep, i got FIVE uninterrupted hours of sleep last night. FIVE. I can't remember the last time I had FIVE WHOLE HOURS OF SLEEP.

I felt like a million, nay, 45048305 million dollars. I woke up at 5am with a big smile on my face. The doctors and nurses told me how great I looked this morning. I practically skipped into the office.

If this happens at least once a week for the next four weeks, things will be much easier. Pray for me, people. I'll even settle for four hours. I'll take what I can get...

looks like it only gets worse...

(from tarah! thanks!)

umm.....

the mattress came. we put it in the crib. the crib now looks like a bed. for a baby. our baby.

umm... there is going to be a baby in that bed in about a month. one month. holy shit....

35 and 35

35 weeks down, 35 days to go.

We are in the home strech, people!

too much info

The web is great. Really. It is. Email, research, porn, you got it all. Tonight, however, "all" was just too much.

Josh and I needed to buy a crib mattress, so we go online and decide to look at reviews. After reading them on Babies r' Us, Target and Amazon, we were worse off than when we started.

Do we buy the $300 organic mattress? $300? I mean, I have no problem spending money, but I do have issues wasting it. $300 seems like a lot. Then again, this IS where the kid will be sleeping... can you put a price on safety? Is organic the way to go? What about chemicals? What about SIDS! What about the environment! GAH!

On top of that, the mattress has to be heavy and firm, and it has to fit the crib with no gaps, so little hands and feet can't get caught, but if it is snug and too heavy, I will have a hard time taking it out of the crib to change the sheets. If it is not heavy enough, he might sink in and then his head may be all weird and the world will end.

The crazy expensive mattress had a plethora of 5 star reviews. Soooo... we get it, right? Then Josh pointed out that the people who paid $300 for a mattress might want to justify their purchase with a glowing review. Maybe the average-priced mattresses with no reviews were just as good; people just didn't feel the need to crow about it. But what if people didn't review it because they didn't buy them because they are good parents and they know something we don't?

What did people do before the internet got into their heads?

Hmmm... maybe we can skip the whole crib thing; he can sleep in a drawer or something...

product whore

For those of you who grew up with me, you know I was never much into "products". Sure I did thread my eyebrows, but that was more so people didn't ask me why I left the circus. I usually didn't blow dry my hair, didn't use any hair goop, didn't wear make up, didn't paint my nails, didn't do much to my appearance, really. In the winter, I used Nivea on my arms, legs and face. If things got really dry, I whipped out the Pathmark petroleum jelly from like 1978.

Then junior year of college I started putting a little eye make up on. And getting bikini waxes. Nothing too high maintenance. Eye make up never hurt anyone, and it brought out the only feature of mine I really liked. No harm, no foul. The minimal eye make up and waxes continued throughout senior year and while I was in NYC. My hair was kind of a lost cause, so I didn't think that expensive haircuts and product was really worth it. I started blow drying it, though, since I had a job and couldn't go to work with wet hair... I may have gotten a pedicure here and there, but usually if a group was going and I wanted to tag along.

When I came back to Boston, not much had changed. Until the summer of 2006, that is. The beginning of the end.

A VS student caught me outside H&M and asked if she could practice highlights on my curly hair to show her instructor. Free highlights? Sure why not.

While I was getting all foiled up, I mentioned that I needed a new hair dresser and was really open to anything, since I was beyond bored with my haircut. Luckily there was as student who needed a hair model for short hair. How much? $16? Sweet! I got a rock star haircut that I loved, but it needed to be blown out every morning... with goop in it. Well, like hell if I was buying that purple stuff! Dove leave in conditioner was good enough for me. Done and done.

Then the highlights started growing out. So I went back.

Then my rock star haircut needed to be cleaned up every 6 -8 weeks or so, so back I went. When I left the salon, I "found" a half bottle of the purple stuff in my purse (I love my stylist), so I used it. WAY better than Dove! I will use it for special occasions, I told myself. Suuure...

Around the same time, I went and got a pedicure at this awesome nail place Cambridge with a friend. It was pricey, but I got pedicures like once every two years, so I didn't mind too much. I really liked the salon and loved the owner, but didn't see myself going back to often, since getting my nails done wasn't really a priority. Well, back then it wasn't...

Fall of 2007 and I had a bajillion dollars at Bella Sante thanks to my wonderful, wonderful friends. I had never had a facial before; why not see what the fuss was all about? You want me to do what to my face every day/week/month? Sure lady, whatever. Whatever, indeed....

Fast forward to the spring of 2009 and my make over at Mizu. Wait, this is what I look like with make-up? This is what my hair could look like if I actually tried? You want to give me a bag full of bottles for free? Score!

By this point, I was way past hooked.

I use all of these on a daily/every other day/weekly basis. I have come a long way from two-in-one shampoo and conditioner, bar soap on my face, and some eye-liner at weddings. Hello, my name is D and I am a product-aholic.

1 - Kerastase Shampoo: I got this as part of my make-over. I can actually feel the difference and really like the results. It is a lot less than I thought it was, so it is making the "maybe I will buy it when I run out" list. Will Pantene prevail? Only time will tell...

2 - Kerastase Masquintense for Fine Hair: Also a gift as part of my make-over. I love this product and was using it once a day, but then started rationing. This made the "I will pay money for this" list, but I am certainly going to ration this one out. It may even last me until the end of the year...or at least my birthday... hint hint...
3 - Momo Shampoo Moisturizing Dry and Dehydrated Hair: Yet another free product from my make-over. This is good for every few days, since it does a good job of stripping my hair of all the products (see below) without adding a lot of heaviness. It made the cut.


4 - Kiehl's Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub: Every other day in the shower, baby! Although it is expensive, I can feel the difference between this and something like St. Ives. This also feels very similar to what they use when I get a facial, and I have seen an improvement in my skin over the last year or so. Have been paying for it and will continue to do so.



5 - Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash: This was a Christmas present from my editor and I am loving it as a daily morning cleanser. Depending on the price, I will be buying it again. I should really look into that though... If it is steep, I will be replacing it with my Nuetregena pore cleanser. Blissful, yes. Necessary, not so much. It does feel good in the morning... decisions, decisions

6 - Blue Lagoon Moisturizer: My mom and I each picked up a tube in Iceland after we saw what the free sample was capable of. Oh. My. God. This past winter, I was literally bleeding from dry skin and this was the only thing that made any kind of difference. I was using it on my arms and legs too, but since I am running low, this is now a face-only product. My mom got me some Ahava lotion from Israel to replace this when I run out, but next time I am in New York City, I may pop in to Bendels or the big Barney's to see if they carry it. I am afraid to know what they would charge here in the states, though... This may be a one time thing.



7 - Kheils Creme de Corps: As my Blue Lagoon lotion supply started to dwindle, I picked up some Creme de Corps for my arms, legs, and elbows. Great stuff, even though the price is steep, esp for the pump. My skin is happy, though, and so am I.



8 - Fresh Here Comes the Sun Face Palette: I couldn't even tell you how much this was; I just don't want to know. When I tried it on in the store, I really liked how it added just enough color without making me look like a hooker. It is hard to find that balance for us mocha-skinned beauties and there isn't much selection out there for us.
9 - Fresh Umbrian Clay Foundation: Awesome awesome awesome. Solves the same mocha-skinned problem and is very light. My sleepless nights don't look as bad when I throw some of this on underneath my eyes. Would recommend to anyone; they have a good number of shades from which to choose.

10 - Chanel mascara: What can I say? I am addicted to eye compliments? :)

11 - Chanel Khol Eye Pencil: I swear I tried to use the Indian pencils, but they were coming on a little too strong and were hard to remove. Sometimes it was on there for days. Sure this pencil is 100 times more expensive than the Indian ones (I am not kidding - those are 40 cents), but they last me a long long time and I love the quality. 12 - Fresh Umbrian Clay Mask: After the nice ladies at Fresh watched my buy the foundation, face palette AND powder (not listed), the "sucker" sign must have lit up above my head. They threw in a (fairly good-sized) free sample of this clay mask, and it worked its free sample magic like a charm. I love it. I am rationing this one as well, but once a week or so, I put it on at night, and the next day, my skin is tight and glowing. I was in the store yesterday and checked the price for the big bottle. Not great, but not too bad either. It may make the cut. Damn those free samples!



13 - Momo Anti Frizz: These are the bottles that "mysteriously" end up in my purse after a visit to VS. I also got a bottle from the make-over, so although I use this every day, I have yet to pay for any of it. When I run out, I can't see a reason not to spend the money. This is a product I would recommend to anyone with frizzy hair. Not to heavy and no real smell.

14 - Momo Curl Serum: Another free gift from my Mizu make over. I didn't think I would use it, since I blow dry my hair, but this adds a little bounce to my waves and it is growing on me. It has made the cut, although I don't see myself needing anymore for months - a little goes a long way.

15 - Kerestase Expanseur Extra Corps: Another bottle that finds my way into my purse now and then and ALSO a present from Mizu. Although I haven't actually bought any of this yet, when the time comes and my three bottles run out, I will be. I can tell the difference between the days I use this and the days I don't; my hair has a little more oomph with a few spritzes before I turn on the heat.
16 - Ahava Foot Lotion: This was a present from my mom. My sandal-wearing feet love it, but it may have to wait until after the baby is born to continue using it every day, since I can't really reach my feet anymore...

17 - Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream: Another Christmas present from my editor. I am so addicted to this, I can't even tell you. I may be pushing 30, but I have the hands of an adolescent princess. My tube is more air than lotion, though, so if the Blue Lagoon, Kiehl's and Ahava can't maintain this glorious glorious skin, back to Sephora for some more!
18 - Kheils Eye Alert: Nothing beats the feeling of a dab and rub of this wonderful (but pricey) product in the mornings or after a long day, especially if you keep it in the fridge. Sigh. I groan at the price every time I get a refill, but still whip out the credit card.

Those are just the products. My monthly pedicures and waxes, bi-monthly manicures (although I do alternate between manicures and polish changes to save that $10 every month...), VS hair cuts (every 8 weeks), VS highlights (every 3 months), and Elizabeth Grady facials (twice a year) don't really help the bottom line either.

I guess everyone has their hobby, right?