Quick Takes rev 8

What's this, you ask? It's a long overdue blog post for which y'all have been clicking refresh on your readers over the last 4 months. And to make sure I don't go impressing anyone with originality or depth , I've put together a list of moments and thought bubbles from this past week that only I will find funny and am linking it up with one of the prettiest redheads I know, know of, cyber-stalk. That came out a smidgen creepier than I intended. Moving on...

~1~

Overheard on the elevator at work (names changed to protect the clueless):

Dilbert: "Yea so I always seem to fail in the Christmas gift department with my wife so this year, I decided to think completely out of the box."
Sherman: "What did you get her?"
Dilbert: "A welder."
Sherman: *silence*
Dilbert: "Well she's always bringing home these random things made of metal to decorate the house with so I figured this way, she can just make her own. She's really creative like that."

Um. Good luck with that Richard Suave.

~2~

Wednesday was a proud day in the history of my motherland. The first woman president was elected into office! Now, as with all things related to politics, there are folks who celebrate and folks who prefer the taste of hater-ade. Not everyone reacted with such enthusiasm like the hair flag lady. Putting all the partisan/platform issues aside, I'm still marveling at the fact that a country where open-mouthed kissing just barely made its way onto network television within the last decade or so elected a woman into power. I'm not equating risque TV to gender equality. I'm simply pointing out how conservative Korean society has remained even well into the 21st century. It's quite miraculous that South Korea has trailblazed past 'Muricka in female political leadership. Deh-han-ming-guk! Hwy-ting! (I clearly need to download Korean characters because that just looks ridiculous.)

~3~

After years of desparately clutching to pre-written instructions, I've made some progress in the be-adventurous-when-cooking department and whipped up these turkey balls on the fly for dinner with not a Food Network recipe in sight! They came out browned, flavorful, and moist which is the trifecta of meatball cooking (according to Food Network). I threw them in some marinara then poured it over spaghetti squash and proceded to eat 3 servings. It's ok because the 'noodles' are actually veggies and turkey meat has no calories. The bread in the meatballs don't count as carbs because you can't see them.

~4~

Top: Stage 1
Bottom: Stage 2

These pictures show the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Post-Partum Hair Loss. A year has passed and hope has finally been restored. A world free of brillo-pad hairline is a reality, at least until the next post partum diaster. I have until next Thursday to decide if I want to better camoflauge the quasi-bangs with a more blunt variety.

~5~

It's the end of the Jorts era. As I was loading up bags of clothes/toys destined for St. Vincent de Paul, I noticed Matt had made a few contributions. Surprised,  (since he's a clothes hoarder and would still have pants with leather pockets hanging in the closet if it wasn't (weren't?) for my obsessive auditing/purging of clothes), I took a closer look to make sure I wasn't mistaking a laundry pile as a donation pile. That's when I saw an all too familiar set of shorts with 'Sean John' embroidered on the side. I shed a tear and poured out a little coffee to show some respect.

~6~

H followed me into the water closet (yes, I could've just said 'bathroom' but I like to use overly-specific names for everyday things) to provide a soundtrack of "Gangnam Style" for me to go #1 to. He was in the middle of his rendition of the chorus when he made a revelation in human anatomy: 

"Heeeeeeeeey, it's a ladle. Oh-oh-oh-oh, oppa...Mommy, where does your pee come out of? Your butt?"

~7~

You may have to worry about keeping up with the Jones' but for me, it's the Griswold's. When it comes to Christmas lights, these neighbors don't play around. Let me break it down: on the right is a life-sized gingerbread house with a life-sized Santa mannequin inside looking out at you. What nightmares are made of, I tell you. On the roof is a giant manger scene complete with every farm animal known to man. (Although they clearly didn't get the memo that you're not supposed to put baby Jesus out until after Christmas. Don't mind me, I'm just being a Christmas decoration etiquette nazi.) To top it off, the tree of lights on the left is set to blink in sync with Christmas music blaring through speakers, also on their roof, for all of Sun Groves to jam to.

On that note, I hope everyone has a vurry murry Chrimp-mus. Until next time. I'll try to keep it less than 4 months but I'm making no promises.

7 Quick Takes vol. 7

It's been a lukewarm minute but I'm linking up with Jennifer at Conversion Diary once again on this fine Friday. Can't put a bunch of random, unrelated pics/ramblings to waste now can we?

~1~

With me just days away from reaching the big F-T (full term), our dinners have been consisting of two major components: disposable plates and anything that can be delivered to our front door. Thank goodness Baby Bean loves spicy food as much as I do!

~2~

Lately H has been taking on the role of Couch Commando, ordering everyone (including his extremely preggo mommy who's only trying to keep her cankles at bay by elevating her feet) off the couch whenever the urge strikes him to make room for his toys. Apparently he doesn't want to share the real estate when Thomas and his friends or Pocoyo are involved and the carpet just isn't good enough. You're in for a rude awakening, little man. Enjoy the next 1-3 weeks while it lasts.

~3~

Though his expression in this pic may be deceiving, H is quickly warming up to his new big boy bed. He's more interetsed in climbing in and out of the trundle than actually sleeping in it but those are minor details to be worked out later. We plan on keeping Baby Bean bedside for the first few months like we did with H so he's still got some time before getting evicted from the comforts of his crib.

~4~

Someone's ready for Christmas. Or the new Suns season. He puts this hat on the minute he gets up in the morning and won't take it off until midday, only because his "head is too hot."

~5~

A little gem I found while going through the old computer file archives. Viewer discretion adivsed: there is a crotch grab at the end just before he runs away to hide upon seeing the camera. And no, that's not a muppet honking in the background. It's my laughter. I've been told it's "contagious." I'm pretty sure that's just a polite way of saying, "You laugh like a crazy person."

~6~

Dang, I forgot how hard it was to try and come up with 7 things. I know I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here by bringing up the weather but I just wanted to express my joy of the new fall temperatures that have FINALLY hit AZ.

In mid-November.

Better late than never, I guess.

~7~

I might post a preggo update before the end of the week. Stay tuned you lucky readers, you.

7 Quick Takes Rev 6

~1~

Not only am I linking up to Jen at Conversion Diary but I'm also stealing her 1st quick take because I too had someone in my family get stung by a scorpion. My bro in law felt a prick on his arm while at work but assumed it was just a cactus needle or something so he tried pinching it out with his fingers but nothing surfaced. He then happened to look down at his bag and saw the little perpetrator crawl out. Fortunately he's not too allergic so he just has to endure temporary numbness and tingling in his arm. Cacti, scorpions, haboobs...it's a dangerous world I live in folks.

~2~

Took H to his first swim lesson. All the other kids were perfectly happy following what the instructor was doing but my son wasn't having it. He was too focused on the giant waterslide that was on the other side of the pool and was determined to get to it. At least he showcased his kicking skills.

~3~

Went through some old pictures and came across one of my favorites. Guess which one is me? (Hint: I've been sporting the same Hebrew National-like fingers lately) Notice the baby food in the back? Yea, that's one day's ration. And the sweat-matted hair? My mom said I was intent on getting up on that sofa all by myself with no assistance from a forklift. Now I know where H gets his stubborn streak from.

~4~

Thanks to Google, I was able to translate my "South Korea's Got Seoul" t-shirt to my mom. I never realized how difficult it is to explain "soul" if you don't know the exact word for it. I dare you to try and think of a good synonym.

~5~

Thanks to the fashion blogs that lured me into this blogging world, I've been inspired to not let my growing belly force me into the land of frump. Full panel pants and shapeless shirts make it a tad bit challenging sometimes but I'm trying my best to be the cutest preggo lady I can be. Here's today's attempt. (Sorry for the less-than-stellar photo but I didn't have time to set up my tri-pod before rushing out the door this morning. Let's just pretend bathroom self-portraits are acceptable.)

blazer: Ann Taylor, shirt: Gap Maternity, belt: Banana Republic, shorts & scarf: Target, shoes: Nordstrom Rack...oh and hair-tie: CVS

~6~

We're going to start the adventure known as potty training this week. H is definitely showing signs that he's ready...or maybe we're just sick of him wiping his poop on his crib sheets. (Gross, I know.) It's either going to turn out peaches & prunes or I'm going to be forced to ducktape his diaper to keep him from sticking his little hands down there. Either way, I'll be sure to keep you updated on the craziness that is guaranteed to ensue.

~7~

Jorts sprained his back so I've been subbing as bath-giver. That's it. Sorry if you were expecting a funny story to follow but I'm just trying to get my 7 bullets in.

7 Quick Takes Rev 5

Some linky linky action on this fine Friday with Jen at Conversion Diary.

~1~

I'm about halfway there. Just when I thought the cheek pimples had run their course, another one popped up. Then invited its much bigger, more painful friend to move into my forehead. Thank goodness for bangs. Though I can't help but wonder, chicken or the egg? Is it worth having bangs to hide forehead pimples if the bangs themselves cause the pimples? Anywho, sorry for the shotty pic that looks like I'm trying to model my cell phone but here's me at 19 weeks.

~2~

After all the raves I heard/read about this little gadget:

I finally gave in and got one. It definitely makes my skin feel incredible and I do find myself having to use less product but I'm still waiting for it to get rid of the unsightly manhole-sized pores that scream for attention from both sides of my nose. It also didn't prevent the pimples mentioned above from surfacing. I've only been using it since Sunday so I'll give it a little more time to dazzle me.

~3~

With highs in the upper 110's here lately, choices for extra curricular activities with the little one are pretty limited. Even with the zoo's skewed summer hours to try and accomodate for the heat, temps still reach the 90's as early as 6 in the morning. H's swimming classes don't start until August and we can only go to the play area at the mall so many times before I get arrested for disciplining kids that aren't mine. Luckily our local library has an amazing program where you can check out a culture pass that gets you free admission into local areas of interest, including the Children's Museum. There's a limited quantity of these passes so you basically have to go right when the library opens and fight in a gauntlet with other moms to get your hands on one but it was totally worth it. I LOVE THIS PLACE. It's a wonderland of fun and H had a pickle of a time.



~4~

During the 1st ultrasound at the very beginning of my pregnancy, they found a cyst on my right ovary. The doc explained to me that though it is quite common for women to have a cyst during the 1st trimester, mine was a tad on the big side. She proceeded to educate me on the possible outcomes if this cyst decided to get bigger. After seeing all the color leave my face and the tears start to well up, my OB reassured me that she was only telling me what could happen and not what she expects to happen. Me not having a history of problems coupled with the fact that I wasn't feeling any discomfort from the cyst made it highly likely that it would eventually just go away but she wanted to monitor it until it does. The next few ultrasounds showed just how stubborn the not-so-little sac of fluid could be because it didn't get smaller but fortunately wasn't getting any bigger either. We had our mid-term ultrasound on Tuesday and received some welcomed news. Not only is Baby Bean's heart, mouth and spine brewing along just fine but the cyst was gone. Happy mommy, happy baby.

See the smile?

~5~

I'm thinking of attending my first ever blogger meet-up. I don't know if I can call myself a blogger as my  humble little collection of ramblings just barely passed the double digit number of followers but I'm always down for a good craft party. I hope I don't chicken out.

~6~

Just like with H, I've been craving this all day, erry day. It's called bingsoo and it's a Korean dessert made up of shaved ice, fresh fruit, sweet red beans, yogurt and sweet condensed milk. There was a local place that sold it but they recently went out of business and apparently no other place in the greater Phoenix area sells it. How hard is it to shave some ice, throw some fruit and yogurt on there and call it a day? I guess if I put it that way, I should just make it myself...or ask my mom. :)

~7~

And to end this post on a bright note, I just wanted to add my contribution to the grumblings out there about Netflix's uptick in price. Red Box is sounding more and more appealing.

Happy Friday y'all!

7 Quick Takes Rev 4, Visual Edition

~1~

No waaaaaaaaaaay!



~2~

That's some good "lellow corn."

~3~



Ice cream spiked with a smidgen of rum. How else do you think I get him to sleep for 12 hours straight?

~4~

NOT ergonomically acceptable.

~5~

NOT taking a shadoobie...I don't think.

~6~

From right to left: A gassy preggo, a poor man suffering from exposure to gassy preggo and their love child expressing his real feelings about Sea World.

~7~

Whoever thinks Catholics are uptight need to watch this clip.

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7 Quick Takes Rev 3

Today's link up to Conversion Diary is going to be a beautry edition. I'll review my must-have's along with a few recent findings on my quest to preserve my sexy (as P. Diddy has so eloquenty stated).

~1~

Summer has officially started here in AZ and that means sunscreen is a MUST if you want to avoid becoming the newest member of this group:



Most day time moisturizers I've been able to find cap off at spf 15 so I figured I could beef up my protection by adding a layer of spf 50 sunscreen to my morning skincare routine. (which consists of running a face wipe across my face, swiping on a glob of Oil of Olay and calling it a day.) I quickly learned that my face has some surrious beef with Coppertone. I broke out so badly I was thisclose to telling coworkers I had chicken pox. Then I found this magical potion:

It keeps my skin from getting all ashy in this harsh desert climate yet doesn't turn into an oil mask by lunchtime. Two thumbs way, way up.

~2~

Mixed reviews on this one. I haven't witnessed the amazing skin transformation that the product claims. In fact, I actually started breaking out on my cheeks after I started using it. However I don't think Peter Thomas Roth is to blame. I started using these pads right around the time we found out Baby Bean was brewing away so I'm pretty sure my skin would've freaked out from the preggo hormones alone.

~3~

After not being able to wear makeup to work for 5 years, it's hard to get back in the habit. But on some days, when I'm feeling really fancy, I add a makeup step to the morning routine I discussed above. While shopping for a loose powder that better matched my yellow epidermis, I found Sephora's mineral powder. I was a bit weary since I've heard mineral makeup gives heavy duty coverage (the cakey look is not my thing) but the makeup was allegedly good for your skin plus it was on sale for $10 so I decided to give it a whirl (no pun intended). To my surprise it gave me light coverage that lasted all day just like my normal loose powder except it actually gave me a nice glow (the pretty kind, not the sweaty kind).

~4~

I'm kind of all over the place and going totally out of sequence but the face wipes I mentioned in bullet #1 are these ry-cheer. They're gentle, has a soft side for eye makeup removal and a textured side for exfoliation, Costco almost always has a coupon for them...in a nutshell, they're fantastic.

~5~

This next item isn't really a beauty item but it's definitely a must have. In addition to his lips, laugh and sweet dance moves, another trait our little man inherited from me is his sensitive skin. Desitin just doesn't cut it but this stuff delivers a swift karate chop to any redness & irritation that even thinks about forming on H's dimpled bottom. What Soul Glo does for the jerry curl, A&D does for our little man's cheeks.



~6~

One thing I get compliments on quite often is my skin (though I can't say the same about my freakishly short arms or disproportionately long torso). Friends ask me all the time what I use to get it so soft and I tell them about this. I only know it by its Korean name but was able to find a Google image using "Korean scrubbing mitt." I know it sounds like some sort of torture device, and to some it might be, but it's just a piece of extremely rough fabric in the form of  a pocket. Friends who have tried it have compared it to sand paper but trust me, you get used to it. Give yourself a thorough rub-down after a hot shower and you'll be surprised (and borderline disgusted) at how much dead skin sloughs off. If you don't have a local Korean grocery store, you'll probably find them at any asian market. If you don't have a local asian market...try Amazon?

~7~

I apologize for short-changing you but I have scoured my brain for a final beauty item with no success. C'mon, give me a break. It's Friday afternoon, my boss went home early complaining of "kidney stone related pains" (he clearly never got the TMI memo) and I've been on weekend mode since lunch. I'm off to meet my sister at Ikea with a goal to duplicate this project in H's room. If I stub my toe on a Thomas the Tank Engine book one more time...

7 Quick Takes Numero Dos

Jumping on the bandwagon at Conversion Diary for a 2nd go-around this fine Friday evening. We'll see if I can be a bit more consistent with these than I was with the handful of Grrs and Yays posts from a hot minute ago.

1) For those of you who claim I'm not showing signs of pregnancy bloating at all, don’t let the cherry-picked photos fool you. I’ve been getting a lot of up-downs (term courtesy of a Simon-says over here) lately at work and their gazes always end at my belly. They probably think I need to lay off the beer & nachos. Maybe they're right. I'm kidding about the first part. I'm more of  a vino-drinker anyway. I’m trying to milk the pre-maternity-clothes timeframe for as long as I can without losing all my dignity and have been rocking my usual jeans with a hair tie looped around the button. It’s only a matter of days before I switch to full panels...or skip waistbands all together. The moo-moo-ier the better. 




2) Now that's he's approaching 18 months, H has been earning his keep lately by doing odd-jobs around the house. I should probably show my appreciation by at least dressing him in clothes that match, even if we're just lounging at home.





Doing what he does best, taking inventory of our tupperware stash. 





I don't know how he keeps track of all the numbers without a pen & clipboard. He's brilliant.

3) I successfully managed to take an entire layer of skin off of my left elbow the other day while going down a 2 ft slide with H. I am officialy geriatric.

4) The winner of my favorite pic of the week is:





Life is tough.



5) There was a mini-explosion in the fab at my work earlier this week that resulted in some missing eyelashes and singed nosehairs. In all seriousness, 1 of the 7 people who suffered "minor injuries" ended up getting 2nd and 3rd degree burns. In my opinion, that's not really minor but I guess they defined it as such because it wasn't life threatening. My prayers go out to the folks who were affected along with their families. I am so glad that I moved to a position where I don't have to ever set foot in the fab anymore. The bunny suits are pretty cool but I prefer my sparse eyebrows to none at all.

6) No post would be complete without a gratuitous foodie shot. Here we have some chili cheese dogs I made for dinner last night. They came out a little on the salty side but I blame it on the Hebrew Nationals.

7) Since my topic train is running on fumes, I'll conclude this post with a couple recent (but reluctant)  tricks.

P.S. I have been getting a plethora of views lately (which I am super stoked about) but my follower count has been stagnant for eons. If you like my mindless ramblings or find them even remotely amusing, follow me would ya? Or show some comment love at the very least. It makes me feel warm & fuzzy inside. :) Grassy ass. 

7 Quick Takes Premiere

I usually link up to F&FL 3 Small Successes but I missed this week's so I'm going to hop on the Conversion Diary's solution train to lazy bloggers today.

1. After nearly a decade of waiting (not really but it sure felt that way), I finally have my sweet new ride! The dealership only had models that came equipped with bells & whistles that no one in AZ would have any practical use for. Like the climate package. In a city that doesn't even know the meaning of the word percipitation (seriously, you should see the way the people of Phoenix completely forget how to drive the minute it starts to sprinkle) and spends the greater part of the year in triple digit temps, why would any logical person pay extra for options like snow tires, heated seats & automatic windshield wipers? So when given the option of paying extra for one of the cars on the lot or ordering one exactly the way I want but having to wait a little while, I obviously chose the latter. Little did I know that "6-8 weeks" would turn into nearly THREE months. I have to say it was definitely worth the wait. I will probably shed a tear for my 35 mpg Civic everytime I'm at the gas pump but I love not having H's carseat digging into the back of my chair and knowing that we're in  one of the safest cars out there. (Random fact, Curt Cobain also drove a Volvo for its safety reputation...though it clearly didn't protect him for any self-inflicted harm.) Say hello to my new mommy-mobile.

2. Now that I'm right on the cusp of 1st and 2nd trimester, I'm finally getting to enjoy sleeping through the night without getting up a dozen times to pee. It's the little things that count, people.
3. On a less chipper note, I'm experiecing preggo symptoms this time around that I was lucky to have avoided the 1st time. Like heartburn. It took me a while to figure out what it was b/c I've been known to have an iron stomach, probably a side affect of my spicy food addiction. Needless to say I always keep a bottle of these little treats within reach.

4. H discovered leeks and loves them. That might be a slight exaggeration. I made a potato & cheese casserole with a layer of leeks & peas hidden in the middle hoping he wouldn't notice. Mission accomplished. He polished off a whole plate and was rewarded with what he calls, "eye-keem." It's actually a strawberry yogurt bar but hey, he's only 17 months. We'll work up to accuracy later.
5.  Jorts introduced me to what could be the best sub known to man, the Capistrami. It's from this little joint and the culinary genius of a sandwich is made up of hot pastrami, swiss cheese, Russian dressing and topped with delicious crunchy cole slaw. I have no idea what Russian dressing is but it's all kinds of scrumptious. I may or may not have taken down an entire 16 in version just before sitting down to do this post. Don't you dare judge, I have a parasite living inside me.

6. We took H on his first aquarium adventure. I'm still kicking myself in the buttox for leaving my camera on top of the dryer but we were still able to get a few shots on my camera phone. Prepare to be impressed by the high quality photography.




"Big Fish!"





Don't mind my Dwight Howard-like shoulders.





All the excitement wore our baby boo out.


7. I realize that these takes are turning out to be not-so-quick. To keep the lengthy pic-overloaded post going, here's some more snapshots of yesterday's trip to the park. It's already hitting highs of 100 degrees so the only time we can venture outside is b/w 5 and 7 am or we risk turning into one giant blister. Enjoy.

Just like his daddy. Obsesses over the cleanliness of his shoes.