when this is all over, i'm going to need a nap

i'm going to have to try really hard while writing this to not sound like i'm bragging (or humblebragging, which is slightly different and much funnier) so bear with me.

i've had a pretty amazing week this week, professionally speaking. 

after about seven months at the radio station going from intern to producer and learning all kinds of things i never thought i'd know, i'm having my first all by myself on-air shift this saturday morning from 8am-10am.to say this came out of nowhere wouldn't be entirely accurate but it was very much a zero t0 60 thing over the course of this week.

sure, i talk during the morning show but morning radio and being a disc jockey are totally different animals. i'm nervous and excited but mostly, i'm just surprised. 
when i got into journalism in college, i really fell in love with public relations especially since it meant i could still write. i never thought radio would be a career path, even after i first took the internship, and while most people wouldn't disagree that i could make a career out of talking, it's still scary to think about changing paths, even so slightly. 
at the same time, i'm very excited and so thankful to everyone who has helped teach me and so lucky for this opportunity. so please listen (in tennessee on 107.5, in mississippi on 96.1 and elsewhere on the website link above)!

moving on.

i drink tons of coffee every week to the point where i think i might be comprised of at least 20% pure caffeine. hey, we all have flaws. but this week i had an exceptionally great cup of coffee because it was with Suzanne from the East Memphis Moms blog. I saw on twitter (follow me @raquelhinson) that she was looking for guest bloggers and after a few emails, we met to talk and she was awesome! Her youngest and reed are the same age so there's also a possible play date in reed's future. it was really nice, she was beyond encouraging and seemed really excited to have me write for her blog. she also did a mom spotlight on me which was very flattering, so thanks Suzanne. 

all moms in the Memphis area: follow this blog, like it on facebook and then take advantage of all the cool stuff around town she finds for us to do with our kiddos!

and my last bit of cool news is that i'll be hosting this little party at Gould's in Collierville:

alright, i'm done. i promise. happy thursday all. 

Sunday Funday

Today, I had the immense pleasure of a day with reed, robyn & ellie, 3 of my favorite people.
reed & i started out the day with our weekend usual: two breakfasts.
Breakfast number one was peanut butter granola & yogurt (with coffee for mommy, milk for reed) while for breakfast number two, we split a waffle with nutella spread on it.

reed then played trains while I straightened my hair thereby securing a good momma hair day.
Is there a Sunday that starts better than that?

then we traipsed over to the Apple Store since my iPhone wouldn't hold a charge and a very large thank you to the guy at Apple who fixed my phone and didn't make me pay for it :)
Right around this time reed started to ask where daddy was and since I felt like coffee could only help the day, we went to Adam's Starbucks for another round of coffee & milk and some kisses from daddy. And we ended up meeting robyn & ellie there after a while. 

One of Adam's co-workers, Kim, has a son (Aiden) who is about a year and some change older than reed but the interacting is still pretty good considering the gap in their ages.

Aiden & Reed hanging out on the Starbucks patio.

once assembled, the sisters haire + reed + me went on a shopping expedition, largely to take advantage of a Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic coupon for 30% off all purchases that robyn managed to acquire. 

we hit up the poplar plaza Old Navy before venturing to Germantown for the Saddle Creek shopping center for visits to Indigo, Anthropologie, Gap & Banana Republic.


we each got something from somewhere without splurging beyond necessity, though it was close when I went into Banana and fell in love with a $98 dress (hey, it would've been $68 with the discount) but luckily robyn talked me out of it. 

though ellie & I communicate on an hourly basis and I talk to robyn several times during the week, it's pretty rare for me to see them even weekly due to scheduling conflicts so this was quite the treat.

how was your weekend, mr/mrs/ms blog reader? :)

Kids Say The Darndest Things

If you're reading this blog, it's clear that you already know how hilarious I am.
Did you know that my comic abilities were hereditary? I wasn't sure there was a gene for being funny but it's been proven over the last few weeks. Side note: Adam could possibly claim some credit for reed being a funny little guy but let's not jump the gun here. The kid already looks exactly like him.

 Am I wrong?

here's some proof that my little man is pretty damn funny.

 After discussing how Ellie & Robyn are sisters and Buck & Theodore are brothers: "Mommy, I don't want a baby brother, I want a baby sister. Now!"

About his newest friend, Ryan, my friend Alexis' daughter: "We need to go see Ryan. I need to tell her that I love her."

While we're sitting at the bar at Starbucks waiting for Adam, an older lady came up to reed & introduced herself as Robyn: "Hmmmm. No, you're not Robyn. Mommy, where is Robyn?!?"

After apparently watching a little too much Thomas the Tank Engine: "Take me back to Sodor at once!" 

Sitting at his Thomas activity table: "This is my nice, quiet place. Mommy, hush."

Now, I realize that other people aren't going to find reed as adorable and charming as Adam & I do but even those people that aren't quite into kids have to admit that he's pretty cute.

I have some mom followers and I have a few followers with much much younger siblings- do the kiddos in your life say hilarious things? Tell 'em to me!

It's the New Year, but not the New Decade. Got It?

I hope everyone has enjoyed the first few hours of 2011 and had a lovely end to 2010 (side note: is this the year we start saying twenty-eleven instead of two thousand eleven?) 

This year Adam, Reed & I rang in the New Year at The Pennel's with the Pennel family themselves, the Pritchett's and Allen. It was decidedly a step-up from last year where we watched Ice Age 3 and Adam fell asleep at 11:30pm and Reed was thrilled to have Buck, Theodore & Leila.

Generally, I don't make New Years resolutions anymore because they're rather grandiose and I set myself up for failure. However, after hearing my friend Heather's new year's resolution, I think I'm going to take a crack at it. Heather's resolution is "to be more sparkly" which is probably the most fab thing I've ever heard. So in keeping with the idea that low pressure resolutions are the way to go, here we are:
 

To wear more headbands & earrings.
I look fabulous in headbands when I put a modicum of effort into my hairstyle and every girl needs a good pair of earrings now and again.

 

 To drink more water and less coffee.
I do pretty well with the water thing but I could always do better. God knows I need to cut back on coffee. 

 

To work out more. Inside the gym and out.
I want to work out, not because I feel like I need to lose weight, but to feel better and have more energy. 

 

And lastly, to play more and worry less.
It's too much pressure to clean house and stress over school, constantly. Sure sometimes, you have to but not to the point where you can't enjoy playing with your kid. 

 

What are some of your new year's resolutions?

Lists of Four

As remiss as I have been in my blogging of late, I've fallen even further behind on my blog reading. I was catching up and saw that my darling Shannon tagged me in this post, and so I will play along. 

1. Four shows that you watch:
one: The Office
two: Grey's Anatomy
three: The Venture Brothers
four: Family Guy

I was going to put Glee but Robyn made me feel like a hipster for following the crowd. Thanks, Robyn.

2. Four things that you are passionate about:
one: my sweet baby reed.
two: my wonderful new husband, Adam.
three: my friends. Oh, how I have amazing friends.
four: blogging. 

3. Four words & phrases you use a lot:
one: reed. reed. REED!
two: you're ridiculous (mostly to Ellie).
three: NO.
four: You're an Asshole (mostly to traffic when reed's not in the car)!

4. Four things you've learned from the past:
one: Not everyone is going to like everything you do.
two: None of my friends is ever going to think I should go blond, no matter how much I ask them.

three: Love is a gift, but that doesn't mean it isn't work.
four: If you get four positive pregnancy tests, it's not necessary to keep taking them.

5. Four places you would like to go:
(I've been to some of these but I'd like to go back with reed & adam)
one: New York City
two: Paris
three: Italy (yes, the entire country).
four: I will travel to New Zealand and walk The Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and I will hike Mount Doom. 

6. Four things you did yesterday:
one: I took reed to the Children's Museum.
two: I visited Adam at work (& got a latte).
three: I went to work.
four: reed & I ate a lot of popcorn.

In case you can't tell, yesterday wasn't very exciting except for the morning at the CMOM.

7. Four things you are looking forward to:
one: Reed getting his big gift from Santa.
two: Christmas Eve Lunch with my family at my brother & sister-in-law's.
three: deep fried turkey & sweet potato casserole at my brother-in-law's on Christmas Day.
four: New Years Eve at the Pennel's

8. Four things that you love about winter:
one: drinking hot lattes.
two: the month-long break from school.
three: cozy socks.
four: when it's bloody OVER.

Today, the actual first day of winter, doesn't apply to most of these. For those not in Memphis, it was nearly 70 degrees outside.

9. Tag four people to play along:
Amanda @ Your's Truly
Amanda @ Because I Said So

Fallon @ Welcome to the Real World
Mary @ Home is Wherever I'm With You

Mama, those are GIRLS. Mama!

Another post about the adventures of Raquel & Reed!

Last night was bittersweet, my dear friend Megan came over for dinner with me & Adam before she leaves town. It was really nice for one of my oldest friends and Adam to get to know each other better, as most of my girlfriends that he knows are my Starbucks ladies (Goodness, I love you girls!) and, to him, it's more his (mostly former) co-workers and less my friends.
But like I said, bittersweet.
I'm getting to see her tomorrow for a last coffee and she'll be back in town for the wedding in less than two months, but it was still a little sad.

 me & megan in 2004. we actually haven't changed that much :)

We were pretty busy today, this morning we went to Otherlands for coffee, milk & zucchini bread with my mother. happy happy joy joy.

After sweet nap time, we went to my OTHER friend Megan's house to play with her sweet bbgurls. be prepared before you scroll down, you might go into shock over adorableness.

Teresa & Liana

when we walked in, reed took one look at them and then looked at me and said "Mama, those are girls! Mama, Mama!" It's pretty clear that he's with buck & theodore all the time and the only girls he's aware of are in their twenties.

reed & bbgurls seemed to have a pretty good time together. they had a train table and TWO Thomas trains (on top of the one reed insisted that we bring) and a few Elmo's so that helped reed settle in. however, he didn't escape being the only boy in girl city.

that's my little man with a fairy princess wand.

 After it cooled down by half a degree we went outside to the swing and the slide which thrilled reed to pieces. actually to the point that he had a meltdown when we needed to leave.

So sorry Megan & Kevin!

we had plans to go to a Memphis Redbird's game but reed seemed a little too tired for that. though he loves Rockey Redbird so he may have perked up had we consulted him before making that decision.

 

 Reed & Rockey at the first redbird's game of the season.

you can tell how excited he is based on how excited Random Crazy Smiling Background Lady seems.

And now reed is asleep, Adam has made me a d&d widow for the evening and there's no Police Women of Memphis on tonight, sadly. it's nights like this when I'm alone, the apartment is clean and I've got nothing to do where I either wish school had started (11 days) or, specifically to Thursdays, that Grey's Anatomy and The Office had started their new seasons (5 weeks).

 But there must be wedding stuff for me to work on! Goodnight all :)

the adventures of raquel & reed :)

it's been almost a week, and I'm sorry dear blogger friends. It's not my fault, Adam has taken my laptop hostage for video games knowing that when school starts (32 days for those with no Saturday classes), it will be ganked back for my use and he'll be banished back to the x-box.

he lives a hard life :)

Other exciting news that kept me from blogging, I joined the gym this week! 

 All my Starbucks ladies work out and take classes at French Riviera Spa and I figured the motivation of meeting people and taking classes with friends would help me get off my ass!

However, mama duty calls over working out tonight. I went to a hip hop class on Tuesday and worked out on my own yesterday so the first week of membership isn't a total waste but tonight's Zumba class with Molly & Robyn was put off due to the level 5 meltdown reed was having over not having shoes on, the adventures of his Thomas train and Elmo doll and the general state of affairs. I figured neither reed nor the child care center would appreciate me dropping him off in that state.

Before I get any further, Happy Birthday Heather :)

My dear (& only mom-) friend, Heather, is celebrating her 87th birthday today and reed & I took her out for a Brother Juniper's breakfast this morning.

It's SO Yummy :)

 In the other adventures of Raquel & Reed....

 pretty pretty Toffee Nut Latte from Cafe Eclectic.

Reed had the special treat of chocolate milk. Unfortunately, it was so special that he inhaled it and I didn't get a picture :(

And tomorrow we're going to see Heather, Buck and Theodore and their chickens! These are about three months old, but chickens don't change that much.

Reed & Rocky (after me) the Chicken.

And then we get a visit for dinner and movies from Aunt Ellie (who reed's been asking about all week!)

reed's first birthday with Aunt Ellie :)

I used the above picture because, if anyone can believe it, Reed's turning two on Sunday!

Before I freak out that my baby is growing up, it's Thursday which means Adam is at his weekly d&d game and I get to snuggle up with Police Women of Memphis and make my grocery list for the week.

thanks for playing, friends.

And the award goes to...

i'm so excited, my infant blog was given an award! granted, it's from a friend of mine that I've known since the sixth grade. Hi Amanda, thanks dear :)

As everyone who has ever seen or read Spiderman knows, with great power comes great responsibility and that means there are rules that come with accepting this award, according to Amanda's blog:

Numero Uno: Thank the Person Who Gave You the Award.

thanks for indulging my blog Amanda, I can't wait to see you when you get back to Memphis!

Numero Dos: Share Seven Things About Yourself.

I want to write non-fiction books for a living.

My favorite color is green.

I love birthdays.

I'm addicted to coffee.

And the ghirardelli brownies that Ellie makes :)

I've always wanted to try stand-up comedy (but I think I'm a different kind of funny).

I want reed to grow up on the east coast, but still a little bit in the south.

Numero Tres- Pass the Award Along to 15 Other Bloggers Who You've Recently Discovered and You Think Are Fantastic.

Okay Amanda cheated on this too and I'm new to the blogging world so I'm going to pick as many as I can:

The Broke-Ass Bride

Your's Truly (Sending the award back to my girl Amanda)
Rauwolf Family

Buckadore

Chicago Girl...by way of Memphis

Life in South Carolina 

The Beans

I Love Memphis
Etsy Wedding

and lastly: Contact the Bloggers and Tell Them About the Award!

And now I'm off to help my dear friend Nathan move a couch...I wonder if he has any idea that the little upper body strength that I have comes from lifting a thirty pound toddler exclusively with my left arm?