Summer TV Time

every season i update the blogosphere about what is currently irritating adam on my dvr and it's time for the summer series. 

unfortunately, summer tends to be terrible for television. it's not always true but generally, reality tv and cable network shows are all that is out there. however sometimes that's wonderful- just look at Mad Men. However, there are no Mad Men's on this list so please, don't expect anything on this list to end up on the Emmy nominee list because sometimes terrible television is wonderful.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager

Yes, I know. It's alright, you can judge me for this one. I'm an adult and this show is clearly week one of an acting/writing workshop in Ohio or something. This show is the brainchild of Brenda Hampton, the woman behind 7th Heaven about teenagers who say the word sex and have it entirely too much. The parents are terrible (one of whom is Molly Ringwald), with each of them pretty much having a "kids will be kids" approach to the bed hopping of this group and then getting surprised when 2 of the 4 main girls on the cast have gotten pregnant. It's trash. And I love it. I will admit, I fast forward through about a third of it because some of the characters grate my nerves.
Just do it, my girl Katie also indulges and she's brilliant.
Secret Life airs on ABC Family on Mondays at 7pm. 

The Real Housewives of New York City

alright this one I'm blaming on my dear friend Heather who through feeding me lunch on breaks from school got me hooked on this and it's counterpart over in Beverly Hills. I refuse to get into the New Jersey, Miami or Orange County versions though. I do have standards, okay? This mess of a program is how my girl Bethenny Frankel got the bulk of her fame before leaving for her own show, featured in the spring tv blog by yours truly. It's basically the cattiest high school group of girls gone bad, in their forties and fifties, running around New York City with millions of dollars. It's a trainwreck, I've never seen women behave so badly and I went to an all-girls high school. However, if like me, you're amused by other peoples bad behavior then tune in. Just try not to think about how much money they have without actually working or you'll get upset.
It airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9pm.

Teen Mom

So technically the season hasn't started yet but I think everyone knows I'll be watching as the orignal four moms from the first season of 16 & Pregnant finally come back for the third season of the first spin-off. A lot has happened to these girls since we last saw them and most of them aren't even teenagers anymore.
Maci, the sweet redheaded girl from Chattanooga, went blond, got extensions and some pretty sizable fake boobs. Personally, as a mother, I don't think I'd risk plastic surgery when I had a young child at home and an unstable relationship with his father but hey, do what ya can.
Farrah...ehh i just can't with this one. I usually fast forward through her segments unless it looks like her mom is going to go apeshit.
Catelynn, through twitter (follow me @raquelhinson :) and the like, it appears that she's seen her daughter, whom she gave up for adoption, a few more times and has graduated high school after her pregnancy and maternity leave set her back a full year.
Amber. this girl is a hot mess. She lost (or gave up, depending on the source) custody of her daugher, currently has a restraining order preventing her from seeing her baby daddy, Gary, in the presence of their daughter and has felony assault charges pending. Clearly, she's MTV's bread and butter on this show.
Season 3 of Teen Mom begins July 5th on MTV.
 
and again, if anyone is interested Adam is currently getting into a new summer show:

Franklin & Bash

Travis Birkenstock and Zach Morris have grown up into wise cracking lawyers who handle their cases in atypical fashion. It looks pretty funny and I'll likely check it out when I stop watching trash television during reed's naps. 

adventures of raquel & reed: part 4

I haven't posted in over two weeks and I'm literally forcing myself to do it now. it seems like all I've done lately is work (my job at the radio station and then my new marketing internship) and I'm not sure that anyone wants to read about that right now.
I have had a few times in the last few weeks where reed and I have had some time to do fun things together and I thought I'd focus on those. 

reed and I caught up with robyn and ellie a few weeks ago for some yolo midtown and reed opted for something from the bakery rather than the self-serve frozen yogurt.

clearly, he thought it best to just dive right in. 

that's pretty much the best face ever. 

we've frequented a few memphis redbirds games so far this season, a summer favorite of reed's. he doesn't so much care that baseball is happening as much as he likes rockey redbird, the playground and the food.

and here's a throwback picture of one of his first meetings with rockey. note the crazy faced woman in the crowd.

back in the day, adam and his older brother andrew had a fort in their parents back yard.

reed has since claimed it in the name of thomas the tank engine.

during yesterdays trip out to Collierville to register for this years St. Jude Dream House, reed fell in love with the boys room set up in the house.

just in case anyone thinks i have adam locked in a basement, we did manage to sneak away a few weekends ago for a movie and lunch, our first date in a few weeks (and come to think of it, we haven't had one since) and of course, we saw Thor.
(side note: 5 days until X-Men First Class,  19 days until The Green Lantern, 47 days until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II and  54 days until Captain America. it's going to be a summer of nerd movie heaven for me & adam).


adam with mjolnir (thor's hammer).

and lastly, and in related movie news, i saw Bridesmaids with robyn last week and it was pretty funny and definitely not a chick flick. 

happy memorial day weekend everyone :)

healthy & yummy aren't mutually exclusive

when i'm feeling less that inspired to blog but somehow have the time and the inclination, i have a few fall back topics to whip out: celebrities, babies (and any combination of the two), memphis happenings and food.
guess what? tonight i'm facing a writers block so we're talking about the latter: food!

i posted some weeks ago here about how i've never been very good at dieting so my best bet lately has been to make what i love healthier. and frankly, it's just ridiculous not to share if you've managed to do that so here are some recipes for dishes that i've modified.

guacamole

america should apologize to the avocado for ruining its signature dish with sour cream, particularly when it's really unnecessary to make the dish yummy. 

this recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups. i recently made it for a girls night of eight girls and i tripled it (but i should have made more).

two avocados
a quarter cup of chopped fresh tomato
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoon of chopped red onion

2 teaspoons of lime juice

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

half a teaspoon of black pepper

three quarters of a teaspoon of any hot sauce

three quarters of a teaspoon of salt

combine in a bowl. if your avocados are ripe enough, you shouldn't need to bother with a food processor, a fork and the strength of a four year old should be all you need. i also chopped up some extra cilantro to use as a garnish for the girls night but it's not totally necessary. 

french toast

one of the best things my mom ever taught me how to cook was french toast. i makes really awesome french toast. trust me. but back in the day, powdered sugar and syrup being a topping on breakfast wasn't a huge concern and now i figure, cut the corners where i'm not really sacrificing flavor. so here it is, healthier. oh and adam and reed love this and don't really know the difference.

four egg whites
a teaspoon of vanilla extract

a teaspoon of maple syrup

4 slices of whole or multi grain bread (it helps if it's a tad stale, but it's fine if it isn't)

combine the first three ingredients in a (shallow) bowl and whisk
coat bread on both sides in the egg white mixture

cook on a nonstick pan on medium heat for 2-3 minutes per side.
top with fresh fruit (anything in the berry variety is my favorite) and a little bit more (real) maple syrup.

another pasta recipe

it's no secret, i love pasta. 

this love affair began when i used to actually need carbohydrates because i was so physically active. now i need carbs because i have an inner fat woman that gets pissed off when she isn't fed. however, not every pot of boiling water needs to end up being white fettuccine noodles with alfredo sauce made with heavy whipping cream. 

there are healthy alternatives. 

i made this particular recipe (same portions) for ellie and i a few weeks ago and it passed muster for her and i always figure if I please a Haire, well then now i can breathe again. 

8 ounces of whole wheat/grain pasta (i used angel hair)

two cups of bell peppers in a combination of colors, sliced in thin strips

half a cup of chopped onion

a cup of halved grape tomatoes 

basil

olive oil

two teaspoons of salt and pepper each

teaspoon of crushed red peppers
a quarter cup of parmesean cheese

(i'm not going to explain how to make pasta but do know that the whole grain/whole wheat variety take a minute of two longer to become tender).

saute onion and peppers in olive oil over medium heat and season with salt and pepper

add tomatoes, crushed red pepper and more salt/pepper if necessary. 

add noodles, top with parmesean cheese and sprinkle basil on top. 

i hope someone enjoyed that because my stomach is growling now and it's 11:30pm so it's officially too late to eat anything :)

And Baby Makes Five

Yesterday my dearest friend, Heather & her husband Ryan had a gender revealment cook out to unveil and announce the gender of the newest addition to their family.

they're already parents to these two handsome fellas, who are Reed's BFF's for life:

Buchanan (Buck) Bates & Theodore Earl 
Buck is 3 and will be 4 in September. Theodore is 2 and will be 3 in December. 

Heather & Ryan are mine and Adam's best friends as a couple. Honestly. Ryan was a groomsmen in our wedding and Heather would've been a bridesmaid if she weren't so ridiculous. with Buck ten months older than reed, they very graciously let us experiment with parenting by babysitting baby Buck, always doling out parental advice without being condescending like the women in the grocery store who like giving out assholish unsolicited advice on how to raise my child.
we love them. very much. 

Anywhoo, for those of you that don't know the concept of a gender revealment party (i thought everyone did until I told my friend Megan while she was in town and she questioned the sanity of the practice) it's where you have a cake and when you cut the cake open, if there's blue cake, it's a boy and if there's pink cake, it's a girl.
here is Ryan & Heather's cake:

aside from looking amazing, it was also delicious. 

since I found out that she was pregnant, my money had been on baby number 3 being a girl. I predicted a boy with theodore and I'd been right so I felt pretty confident in my gender pick. Adam disagreed with me but where's the news there.

here's heather with an inside slice of the cake:

it's a tiny picture but it's definitely pink so it's a girl! 

proving, once again, that adam should stop betting against me.

Ryan reacting to the happy news that he's finally getting a daddy's girl.
heather told me afterwards that the only reason she was disappointed in finding out it was a girl was because that meant Ryan was right. Ah, maturity :)

with buck, reed & theodore constantly running around, playing in mud, sword fighting and the like, a little girl will be nice to have around. although knowing that pennel blood, she'll probably kick their asses in sword fighting at some point.

but BIG congratulations to heather, ryan, buck & theodore on the sweet baby girl!

and this has nothing to do with the above post but how bout them Memphis Grizzlies!! Grizznation!!

Bluff City Dining

this week the Hinson family has done an inordinate amount of eating out.

we've had some fairly good excuses: catching up with friends, using coupons and gift certificates before they expire and the fact that Adam & I have way too exhausted to cook/grocery shop. 

We tried out a few new places and I thought I'd share them for the Memphian blog readers. 

Tao Too Asian Eatery

I had a craving for Thai food and since I didn't have plans to go to my sister-in-law's parents house any time soon, I had to go out to get it. Thanks to urbanspoon, I happened upon this little place located in Germantown at 2072 West Street in The Shops of Saddle Creek. I had the coconut chicken curry with rice and vegetables. 

It was delicious. 

Adam enjoyed the chicken fried rice and the crab wontons. Reed picked off of both of our plates as there was no kids menu and loved everything we gave him. 

A lack of a kids menu aside, it was actually very kid friendly. High chairs and booster seats were offered as were crayons to color on the paper table cloth. It was small & quiet with decor beautiful enough that manly man Adam felt the need to comment on it. Stop in if you're in the Germantown area (I'm trying the Lo Mein next time) for dine-in or take-out or if you live in the surrounding zip codes, they deliver. 

Majestic Grill

this morning reed & I had a downtown brunch with Ellie, Robyn & Bekah. I'd never been to this little Memphis treasure but I shall definitely be going back, particularly for the french toast. the Majestic is located in my favorite part of downtown Memphis, at 145 South Main Street.

while we played a game of musical chairs at the beginning of our meal, all was soon forgotten with the help of a bottle of champagne, a bottle of orange juice and a nice sized bloody mary (for me, the other three ladies enjoyed mimosas). 

Bekah got the pancakes. Don't they look yummy?

the Majestic has a nice patio that it was sadly too windy for us to enjoy today and often have events showcasing local artists & performers. 

 Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

I actually ate here for the first time a few weeks ago with my dearest Alexis but I didn't blog about it then and I really should have. And the other places Adam, Reed &/or I ate out were the standard Memphis Pizza Cafe and Rain Sushi Bar & Bistro. And really, who hasn't eaten there?

Anyhungryhungryhippo, Gus's was amazing. The kind of amazing where you can only eat there every once in a while (mostly because it's fried food and who wants to get a heart attack?) because otherwise your taste buds will reject all other foods. 

Alexis & I each had fried chicken, obviously, with her opting for the white meat and me liking my meat dark (makes no sense if you've seen my husband) with fries & baked beans. I'll warn you, everything is on the spicy side. Adam's not a fan, he really can't handle more than two shakes of pepper though. 

And in case you're already a fan of Gus's, they're opening one in East Memphis on Mendenhall near Poplar. 

the other 3 locations are downtown (where Alexis & I dined) at 310 South Front Street, in Bartlett at 2965 North Germantown Road and in Collierville at 215 South Center Street.

All of that deliciousness aside, the best meal I had was at Heather & Ryan Pennel's house on Saturday night. Thanks Ryan & Allen.

fellow Memphians & blog readers, what's your favorite local spot to dine?  

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? :)

So What Do You Do There?

I've been at a loss as to what to blog about and my dearest Elspeth is convinced that people would find reading about my internship interesting. So if you get bored, blame Ellie. 

As a refresher, I'm an intern (currently the only intern) at 96.1/107.5 The Q, more specifically on the morning show with Maney, Riley & Alexis Grace.
I get to do some technical stuff like the timing of the commercial breaks that isn't that easy to describe without a bunch of radio jargon that I barely understand myself. So if my day seems light, that's the stuff I'm leaving out.

A big part of what I get to do is topic gathering for the show. Any ideas, blog readers?

 I've also been learning to edit the audio clips that we use throughout the show, like the movie clips Maney plays early in the morning or the American Idol clips we play on Thursdays and Fridays. Or I've edited the promos where Maney & Riley talk about the next days show, which is probably the most complex bit of editing I've had to do thus far. And a big thank you to my wonderful teacher, Riley, for showing me how to do that.


My favorite thing to do is to write the E! on the Q! blog since it's more my niche, clearly. Though it does come in handy that I tend to agree with Riley on the celebrity gossip since it is a first person blog written from her perspective. So if you're bored at work and want to read a raquel-blog and I haven't updated this one, mosey on over to there. And clearly, I am only talking to Robyn when I say this. 

Other than the above, I do a lot of typical internship tasks: getting coffee, making copies, running to the printer, answering the phones.

Btw, some shameless promoting right here: listen to the Q next week, Alexis Grace has a commercial out for her new apartment at Centennial Gardens and I helped her write it! And the T-I-G-E-R-S spell out at the end is me & Alexis.

Also it should be noted that while I love what I get to do at the radio station and the opportunity is priceless, I'm pretty excited that I've found a friend and reed's future wife out of the deal. Official blog shout-out to Alexis & Baby Ryan :)

And now I'm off to get ready for the Memphis Premiere Bridal Show. A perk of my internship? Getting to go all of these events.

I don't know about Samtana, but here's what we've been up to

Yesterday Robyn chastised me via text message about not updating my blog so here I go, despite a lack of inspiration. Hopefully, I won't bore you readers.


Lately, my life has consisted off my school, reed, adam (barely, sadly) and my internship (which i love). Sleep, a social life and blogging have taken a backseat. The only way I've kept up with the television shows that I watch is my need for background noise while I do homework. Side note: fellow Glee fans, Finn & Quinn again? Sam & Santana (heretofore referred to as Samtana)? Really, Ryan Murphy?


Anyobsessed, here's a look at what the Hinson's have been up to recently:

Reed & I went to Muddy's. I loved the look on his face in the picture. 

Our goods. The Frankly Scarlett on the left was Reed's, the Tomboy was mine.

Pajama Day at Reed's school.

I posted this picture on Facebook and it's the background on my phone but on the off-chance that I hadn't thrown this picture in someones face, I figured they needed to see it. Those are Thomas the Tank Engine jammies, though the top is covered by his sweatshirt, tucked into cowboy boots and topped off with a cowboy hat. The kid has style. 

Baby Ryan & Baby Reed.

 My new friend Alexis and I have had a few playdates with the kids. As I expected, reed promptly fell in love with the older woman (Ryan just turned four) and followed her around asking to shower her with attention, hugs and kisses. Ryan, being the independent girl that she is, will hug reed when she feels like it but would rather he respect her personal space. If there was ever any doubt, male-female relationships are complex from birth.

Reed got way too much stuff for Christmas so we tried to space out the opening of presents. However, it's snowed a lot this winter and when it's not snowing, it's bloody freezing so playtime options have been limited. This week, we cracked open the Lego's and Adam built reed the tower he kept asking for, though we have no idea where he even learned that word and it's relation to Lego's.

And lastly,

The beginnings of this week's snowpocalypse. 

This was the worst snow so far. While the first one of the winter stuck around a little longer, the ice that followed was awful and nerve wracking to drive on. Next winter, I'll be needing a Valium prescription before I attempt to drive again.

Happy Weekend All :)

An Award and a New Name!

It just wouldn't be awards season without my blog getting an award. While I've never claimed to personally be stylish, apparently my friend Robyn at Espadrilles, Lamps and Lava Cakes thinks my writing, at the very least, is stylish.

This is particularly exciting since I've felt a little less than inspired about blogging lately, though Robyn & I have talked about that together and we blame the cold weather. Anyexcuses, the requirements for this award are listing 7 random facts about yourself, and then pass the award on to a few favorite bloggers. And away we go:

1.I've been working on being more natural (but just shy of hippie natural) by not coloring my hair and ditching makeup for moisturizer & chapstick. Personally, I think I've been looking pretty good.

2. Currently, my favorite ethnic foods are Indian & Greek.

3.If I'm at home, I'm in my jammies. Right now, it's sweat pants, a t-shirt and a cotton cardigan.

4.) I have never eaten a steak (me neither, Robyn!)

5. Today, Reed & I are having sushi with my dear old friends Hannah & Alison and I'm pretty thrilled to catch up with them.  

6. I feel very content with my life right now. Would it be better if I was done with school and had a real big girl job? Maybe. But I'm at a place where I have wonderful friends, Reed & Adam fulfill my life in a way I didn't think would be possible and I'm working hard towards my goals.

7. I've very quickly fallen in love with my new internship. I think radio might be a possible career path.

Fascinating for all of you, I have no doubt. I nominate the following others for the Stylish Blogging Award:

1. Bekah at Matters of Merry Making

2. Chandler at Chandler Pritchett

3. Amanda at Because I Said So

Boom! It's Celebrity Babies!

this post is a request from my fellow celebrity stalker and one of my lady loves, Ronni Jupson.  don't worry, for the few followers who also aren't bff with Ms. Jupson, I will provide a visual.

 the mollie fontaine lounge for Ronni's 21st birthday.

I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't 2004 again because the Celebrity Baby Boom is in full swing again and Kate Hudson managed to catch the wave both times around.

We'll start with Goldie & Kurt's progeny since I've already mentioned her. Already mom to 7 year old boy (who looks kinda like a girl) Ryder with rocker ex-husband Chris Robinson, Kate has gotten herself knocked up again by another musician, Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy.This is slightly irritating because, if anyone besides me remembers this far back, Kate was seemingly pregnant for about two years last time around. She is atypical from the usual pattern of celebs pretty much waiting for the baby to crown before they even confirm they are pregnant. For Kate, I believe the sequence of events was she took an early response pregnancy test, her publicist called TMZ and then she let the baby daddy know.

This one is one of my favorites.

Victoria & David Beckham, or Posh & Becks as our friends across the pond refer to them, recently confirmed they are adding another baby to their brood of three boys (Brooklyn, Romeo & Cruz). At this point, I think they're just trying to form their own soccer team. I love seeing Posh preggo, it's like seeing a stick figure swallow a watermelon.

Yes, I know that Selma Blair (who I love), Jodie Sweetin, Pink, Alicia Silverstone and Ivanka Trump (is she really a celebrity?) are pregnant but I'm more interested in the babies that have recently seemed to appear out of thin air.

Owen Wilson confirmed last week that he and his nameless girlfriend were expecting a child and then 5 days later, out comes baby Robert Ford Wilson which was a way more normal name than I was expecting after all of his mental health problems.

Also on the where-did-they-come-from baby list is Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, which if you're quick on the uptake, is the daughter of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.

 

 

Nicole Kidman & baby Faith

Born December 28, 2010 via gestational carrier (is surrogate a dirty word now? I feel like this may be Camille Grammer's fault) her famous parents decided to keep mum until after the Golden Globes but just as the Oscar buzz really starts to kick up. Not that they don't love their daughter but you have to love the timing, it's pretty much a publicists dream.

Model Miranda Kerr & Baby Flynn with Husband Orlando Bloom.

While this is neither a pregnancy or a surprise, I'm including it because I just love this picture. 

A natural moment in motherhood, though I never looked like that when I nursed Reed but hey, I'm not a super model! And it's way better than the People magazine photo shoots done eight weeks after the baby is born.

Since I'm already on the topic, I'll comment on the elephant in the city of Memphis as of late.
I recently posted that there was another blog titled Memphis Mama and according to every national news outlet, there's a lot more than just the two of us with a claim to the name. Frayser High School has reported 90 girls who are either pregnant or have given birth since this school year began.
While that's terrible and very sad, I'd like to comment on something that's being left out of every news blurb being said about the topic: Several of these girls were transferred into Frayser once they found out they were pregnant because of the school's funding for student child care. They don't all reside in the same school district, Memphis City Schools are currently herding all the pregnant girls. 

Still sad and terrible, but it's not exactly accurate reporting if you leave that detail out. You hear me, The Today Show?

Lastly, Kim Kardashian? Please keep your sex-tape-having-hugeass opinions to yourself. You aren't famous because anyone cares about your opinons on the societal issues plauging America. Spritz some of your perfume on, wear a tight skirt and call it a day.

You've Got a Friend in Me

Two posts in one day! How impressive. Well, I'm impressed anyways.

When I was a young lass, I fancied myself as a guy's girl. And while I can still hang with the boys with the best of them, after six years of all-girls school, three years in my sorority and four years of working at a female dominated tanning salon, I have realized that I am indeed a girl's girl.
And while I often mention my lady loves, we are all incredibly busy and it's a treat when I get to see any of them.

I manage to see my dear Robyn the most out of my fabulous group of girlfriends lately, due to a similarity in scheduling and also since reed is marginally obsessed with her and always wants to go see her. Sadly, her little sister and my best friend Elspeth & I sometimes don't get together unless our resident party planner Molly plans an event. Despite our penchant for talking on the phone pretty much daily, I miss her.

So today before school kicks off, we decided to have an Ellie & Raquel (& Reed) day. 

 We kicked off our day with an adventure to Collierville to show Ellie where her Television & Culture class is since they hide that campus from you for some reason (and for those attentive readers, yes I did take the same class from the same teacher in Collierville last semester. She's ridiculous). Afterwards, we had lunch at the Germantown Chili's due to the random chance that Ellie had a gift card.


But the true excitement of our BFF date was once we got back to my apartment. Reed went down for a nap, Adam retired to our bedroom to play a video game and Ellie and I turned into 17 year old girls.


In the midst of getting our impurities out via face mask.

I should preface this with the fact that elspeth & I are a teensy bit obsessed with face masks because they are so heavenly. if you can't see the bottle, this one was Alba and it felt fabulous, hence the excitement on our faces.


the after shot.
We took this picture ourselves because Adam is not a photographer and his turned out even worse. but trust me, our faces felt great, especially after the help of a little Proactive Green Tea moisturizer. And look how pretty Ellie is with no make-up!

It was a wonderful way to end winter break.

Ladies, go call all your best girlfriends and tell them you love them. Personally, I'm too lazy to pick up the phone so Ronni Jupson, Robyn Haire, Ellie Haire, Megan Wilson, Molly Foreman, Heather Pennel, Amanda Drescher & Lori Tenney: I love you all very much :)

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?

the Christmas Wrap-Up Part 1

Christmas has come and gone, with the final vestige of my holiday cheer was lived out last night at our girlfriend Secret Santa potluck dinner at Ronni's. I truly wish we had taken pictures, Ronni set her dining room table beautifully and all the food (tomato bisque, cheesy french bread and potatoes au gratin), cocktail of the night, gluehwein (German mulled wine that my dear Amanda made) & dessert (peppermint ice cream) were all delicious.
But alas, we were hungry and I guess Molly was busy because she always takes pictures.

Robyn was the recipient of my Secret Santa gifts this year. I decided to go practical and cozy with her presents and so she got cozy socks & a new pair of gloves, both of which she had mentioned she needed fairly recently. I also gave her the Glee Christmas Album.

As it turns out, I was also Robyn's Secret Santa, which hasn't happened in the last few years that we've done this thrifty means of gift exchange. You'll notice, but I'll state the obvious anyways; Robyn is a far more creative gift giver than I, God love her for it.

You can't tell from the picture but it is massive. Adam is very jealous, I love it.

Robyn put this necklace together and gave one to me & one to Ronni, so we now have matching necklaces :)

This was hard to get a picture off (and of course I just noticed that my kitchen cabinet is open) but it was my favorite gift. Robyn got it when she went junking for some chairs, repainted the frame and now it's beautiful.

Ellie and I also had a minor gift exchange last night, for and from Reed.
As I'd imagine most of my followers would know dearest Elspeth was my maid of honor at my wedding so reed, being the thoughtful little fellow that he is, thought she would appreciate a framed copy of this picture:


And, knowing his love for all things Thomas the Tank Engine, Ellie got reed this:

We broke them out for bath time tonight and Reed was pretty thrilled that he could pick up ole Percy and draw not only on himself but on the walls of my bathtub.

Originally I was going to recap the entire weekend, family Christmas included but it turned into the world's longest post that wasn't even holding my attention. So this shall be a two (or maybe three if I'm feeling extra crazy) parter. Sadly, I have no really amazing cliff hanger for anyone.

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