A Day In The Life
My Secret: It’s Goo Related
Raise your hand if you think I’m anal.
(I’ll pause while you do that).
Well, I probably am. I’m definitely type A. But I think there might be a misconception that our house gleams and the faucets are always shined and there aren’t any toothpaste splatters on the mirrors. Yeah right, I wish. We tried to disprove the whole perfect thing with this video (yes, we leave clothes on the floor and mail in a pile like the rest of the population- haha) and it seemed like the masses were relieved.
We’re human I promise (although I’m pretty sure if I weren’t human I’d pretend that I was for assimilation purposes), and my dirty goo-related secret might just prove that once and for all (prove that I’m human, not prove that I’m an assimilating robot). Check out this lamp – from Linens N Things back in the day – that I’ve had for over four years. That’s more than 1,460 days. Yup, that’s the sticky rectangle left by the clearance tag that was on there when I got it. Yes, the goo is practically an antique. I’ve just never scrubbed it off.
Same with the back of the ceramic container (from Target) from at least two years ago that we use to hold our serving and cooking utensils. I just turn the container sticky-side-back so it faces the wall and go on my merry way.
Of course outing myself makes me feel like I should remedy these two sticky situations (my mom does occasionally skim the blog- hi ma!), so with a little bit of soap (Dr. Bronners if you’re wondering, the almond kind) and some water I’m off to get my scrub on. Let’s hope in ten minutes I’ll be singing “ding dong, the goo is gone.” I have to admit that I’m worried that it might be a bit rough to remove thanks to years of dormancy. So that’s what I’m up to this afternoon (along with continued console bid-ness and some post writing). Whew, outing my sticky secret feels kind of good. I can’t be alone in this can I? Please tell me someone else out there just rotates things so the “flaws” face the wall.
Birthday Bidness
Guess what today is? It’s Sherry’s BFF Katie Bower’s son Will’s 1st Birthday! Did you get all that? It’s a lot of apostrophes.
And Clara is doing her best to be a good baby girlfriend, so she sent her main squeeze a couple of items that she loves: tools and clothes. (PS- if your name is Katie Bower and you haven’t had Will open his gifts yet, scroll no further – we don’t want to ruin the surprise).
The first thing that we Clara bought for him was this wooden tool kit from Melissa & Doug (Clara has a few Melissa & Doug puzzles that she loves). We gotta get the babies to follow in their parents’ footsteps early, right? This looks like just the thing for “helping” his mom and dad tackle a few projects.
And since we heard from Will’s mom that they were giving him something special and bike-related (also don’t want to ruin that surprise), we figured it wouldn’t hurt to throw in a t-shirt that he could sport when he gets his big You’re-One b-day gift from the rents (don’t tell Will, but it was on sale at Baby Gap for anyone else in need of one).
So a big congrats to Clara’s beloved baby boyfriend for completing 12 whole months of baby-dom. And an even bigger congrats to Katie & Jeremy for surviving the first year of parenthood (and doing such an awesome job with their little man).
Speaking of hitting the Big O-N-E, our very own Clara is a mere 5 weeks away from her first birthday (craziness – where did the year go?). Which means that we’re starting to slide into party planning mode. We’ve decided not to go crazy-over-the-top (don’t expect to see us on an episode of Outrageous Kid Parties anytime soon) but we can’t wait to host a fairly casual family gathering here at home (it seems like a fitting place for parents who DIYed their own backyard wedding).
We’ve had some people advise us against hosting a kid’s party at home – suggesting instead that we go to a park or other venue where we don’t have to worry about kids running amok and breaking things. But we figured that a one year old and her three under-two-year-old cousins can’t do that much damage with 15 adults around. Those could be famous last words, but after a small family gathering at our house this past weekend we got a boost of confidence that it’ll all work out.
Last weekend was the Monument Avenue 10K here in Richmond and it has become a big old family event for Sherry and me along with my siblings and parents (one year over a dozen of us either ran or walked it) and this year there were ten of us in town to celebrate. So we volunteered our house to be the post-race lunch spot as part of our concerted effort to host more gatherings in this house (now that we’ve got the space for things like that- heck Karl the giant sectional was made for groups like this).
It was amazing how plopping down a pile of toys and books in one spot kept Clara and her 17-month old cousin Emanuel busy, which started to make an at-home birthday party seem a lot less daunting.
We even dragged Clara’s highchair into the living room so she could have lunch with the rest of us (including Blurger, Burger’s blurry alter ego). Clearly she was excited to have been included.
Besides “finalizing” the party location (looking each other in the eye, saying it would be at home, and nerdily shaking hands) and prepping the invites (more on that later) we haven’t done too much else yet. Though we did take a spin through our local Party City to see if anything caught our eye – and of course things did. Our favorite of which were these “Fiesta” plates that were meant for Cinco De Mayo, but we thought would be fun for the beanette too (since the loose “theme” for her party is just the colorful fabric-filled weekly photos that we’ve snapped of her since she was born).
We were already planning to do something with blue, green, and pink (they’ve just always been “her colors”) so these just take it a step further with a playful textile-ish print that resembles a few of the fabrics that we used for her weekly photo project. And it didn’t hurt that they were 50% off.
So that’s all that’s been happening on the party front for now. And as much as I’d like to end this post here, I promised Sherry that I’d include these pics she snapped during the 10K (she’s very proud of having captured me passing by – even though I look terribly awkward in each shot). Here I am putting on the brakes as I reach the spot where she, Clara, and my other family members were cheering me on…
…and here I am going in to give Clara a kiss for good luck (which I’m pretty sure freaked her out – but you probably would be scared too if a man came out of nowhere and shoved his sweaty face into your stroller). For the record, I gave Sherry a kiss too. She was less freaked out. At least I hope she was.
And lastly, here’s me waving goodbye as I ran 2.5 more miles to the finish line.
Even if Clara didn’t really know what was going on, it was nice having her there to watch the race for the first time – after all, this is my 10th consecutive year of running it. And I got my second fastest time ever (47:21) – woo hoo! Now if only I could beat my 66-year-old father. You think I’m kidding. That man is FAST.
Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winners. Click here to see if you’re one of them.
Any Given Day
I thought it might be fun to walk around the house with the Flip cam and show you guys how each room can look on an average day. You know, before we pick the clothes up off the floor, put away Clara’s toys, and fold the big blankets that we snuggle under on the sofa. So here’s an impromptu house tour (while John and Clara ducked out to the post office and grocery store) in all of its average everyday glory:
Things to note:
- Ugh, I have a cold. Sorry about my annoying voice. Who am I kidding, my voice annoys me even when I’m not crazy congested.
- I’m terrible at walking around, talking, and holding a camera (too much multitasking, pardon the Blair Witch Project-esque jolts).
- For those who requested updated office photos in this post, you can see it in 3-D (well, almost) in the vid.
- Burger is so cute. I love how he comes running in and steals the show (and is later seen relaxing in the window).
- I have no idea why I take the time to explain Clara’s music class kit. It’s so weird what you think is noteworthy.
- You can sneak a peek at John’s behind the sofa console project’s progress. Oh and when I say it’s not level and it slopes away from the wall, it’s because our floors are slanted, not because John’s work is shoddy (more pics and details on the big console build this afternoon).
- Yes, my ceramic pooch is still sitting on on the back patio. I just can’t bring myself to let go of him yet. But I’m working up to it. One day at a time.
- You can sneak a peek at the two 30 x 40″ canvases that we got super cheap at Michael’s (more details on our plans for them soon).
- I have no idea why at the end I’m talking about other rooms while walking back through the house and aiming the camera at the dining room and the kitchen (it’s just odd to show the kitchen and say “the messy playroom”). It’s official: I’m no Spielberg.
- My dramatic ending on my purse is beyond weird. What is wrong with me?
Here’s some bonus “ordinary day” behavior. We always tell people how Burger sleeps like a human (with his head on the pillow and his body tucked under the covers) but people rarely believe just how hilarious this is. So here’s some visual evidence that I snapped this morning. I promise this isn’t staged. John got up first today, so I reached over and took some pics after Burger crawled up from the bottom of the bed to “steal” John’s place and sleep in at least four more hours. What a life.
What about you guys. What would people see if you randomly shot photos (or a shaky nausea-inducing video) of your house before cleaning up? Anything embarrassing out there like a teddy bear in the bed or a man-thong on the floor? Thank goodness I put John’s leopard one away before filming that video. Haha. Kidding. Sorry honey. I know just reading that is gonna make you all flustered.
Seven Minutes Of Your Life You’ll Never Get Back
I don’t know what possessed me to record nearly 10 minutes of mundane family time, but here’s Clara, Burger, John and my annoying behind-the-camera voice in all of their glory:
Don’t say I didn’t warn you about losing seven minutes of your life watching something so painfully uneventful that it even bores the people it stars. Haha. But for anyone wondering how we spend our evenings, sometimes this is it.
Psst- My girl Amy tipped me off that Michael’s has a “25% off your entire purchase” coupon that’s good thru Saturday the 2nd. We scored a few giant canvases that were already 50% off for an extra 25% off. Just wanted to toss that out there before the coupon and the canvas sale expires.
