Pet Peeves

We all have our quirks. And we all have little things that get to us, right? Well, I do. Maybe I'm just sensitive. Here are a few of mine, in no particular order:

1. When I can hear someone swallow. Seriously how thirsty are you? I should not be able to hear your esophagus. cough cough wink wink MGW......

2. Blatant bra straps. I don't mean when yours slips, I mean when people, in public, are wearing a hot pink bra with a baby blue spaghetti strap OR strapless dress! Gets me everytime.

3. Not washing your hands in a public restroom. Two weeks ago, I was in the restroom at the movie theater, I watched a women come out of a stall and walk out the door. SERIOUSLY?!?!? If you even walk in a public restroom, you must immediately wash your hands on principle. And last week I heard a little girl tell her mom she didn't want to wash her hands, and her mom said Okay! SHE SAID OKAY! OMG Y'all!

4. Which brings me to my next one, when a child tells a parent what they will or will not do. I'm talking to you Wesley, so stop it.

5. And this one has just recently developed because it keeps happening to me. I hate when restaurants put something on their menu they don't have. I'm not talking about your special that you ran out of, I mean standard items, like beverage choices. Menus are pieces of paper, if you don't have that item, print out a corrected piece of paper and put it in your plastic sleeve. Don't make me feel like a jerk for ordering a beer, just to have you tell me you don't have a alcohol license yet.

So now that I feel like a whiny punk, just kidding...felt good to get it out.... What are your pet peeves? Anybody share some of mine?

Pretty Pretty Princess

After my last post, about making the wee one the center of attention too often, I felt this post I've been composing in my head for a few weeks now naturally came next.

We have a princess on our hands. I'm not pumped about it. This may seem a tad hypocritical being that I grew up competing in pageants, taking all genres of dance, doing every school play, going on to major in music and minor in theater, and dig a boa. But still, when Matt and I found out we were having a girl we agreed this princess movement is out of control. We decided to be very neutral when picking nursery accessories and such. Lots of tans, blues soft pinks here or there and brown.

We also purposefully did not buy things with the "princesses" on them or Barbie. I am not fervently against either. I loved my Barbies as a kid. And if you knew me or my best friends in college you know we had a preference for the princesses. But we did not want our baby girl to start life thinking she had to BE or WAS a princess.

Well that was a best laid plan, and you know how those go. As Wesley grew she made her preference for pink and anything "girly" known quick like. The child actually started making outfit choices demands at 18mos.

Everything had to "swish" she physically tested everything I put on her. Matt but overalls on her one morning, and put his foot down because he was the Dad, Wesley stared him down as she poured a glass of water down the front so he had to change her....she wasn't even talking yet. BIG TROUBLE.

So obviously we knew we were in trouble, which was all the more reason to avoid introducing the princess culture that has taken over the girls toy dept. aisle. I'm here to testify friends, it doesn't matter. First of all it's everywhere, if you have a girly girl, she will find a princess.

Second, once you throw in daycare, grandparents (love y'alls hearts), and Targets strategic placing of everything pink and Disney you have no hope.

So here we are 2 and in love with tiaras, "clittey clacks" (high heels) and glitter. Still I refused. She had a few things from other people I allowed but I was not buying any princess stuff.

Skip ahead to June 2011, we have all summer together. And we are potty training. All the potty training tips involve incentives, prizes, something the kid picks so they can feel rewarded and proud. Especially their underwear. What does Wesley pick.....you guessed it. Ok, it's just underwear.

Then we decided she will need a pick surprise for doing so well and we think-- time for our first movie night. We picked Rapunzel, she's not your typical princess. Spunky, action packed...no crowns. She loved it! Fine. So I made her the Rapunzel dress.

But this just started my downward spiral. Once I saw that happy face, I couldn't stop. Please notice the pronoun.

A few days after Rapunzel, we went to the fabric store for something else and Wee saw the princess fabric. It made her so happy, I mean sooooo happy. Okay, I thought, what if I whip up a blanket and pillow to take on overnight trips, just as a treat when she's away from home.

What a joke, I had fallen. We then watched Princess and the Frog. Wesley was all in, and I kinda was too. The movie is adorable,  great music funny and a strong female lead, not just a girl looking for a prince. Oh, but how we went from there. We have now also seen Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. We own 2 Tiana dolls, 2 Cinderellas, Jasmine, Snow White, and Belle. What happened?

Honestly, part of me thought if I went with it she wouldn't see it as forbidden anymore and get over the obsession. I should've known better.

So now what.....Moms.....Judgy Judgersons.....What now? How do I stop the madness? How do I tell that sweet face princesses should not be idolized? Instill that she's smart and fun and doesn't have to be a size 0 or find a prince at 17? Am I over thinking this, she's a kid having fun pretending right? Right?!?! Blurg.

Smile Baby

This summer I have started to worry I take/post too many pictures of the kiddo.

Before I didn't care because she changed SO fast I didn't want to miss anything. There were also lots of firsts, first food, crawl, steps, haricut, ice cream, etc etc etc. You have to document all that right?!?! Plus digital cameras make it too easy to just snap away, hoping you will get that one best shot every time they are doing something adorable. So you do get the great shot, but you also have 100 pictures of something that was really not that big of a deal.

I noticed there were too many pictures when I did my summer back up and stored a whooping 161 pictures for June, and July already has 195! For scale, May had 50. Which means, when I have time with Wee I am a bit camera happy. Granted, these are not all of Wesley. We have had a full summer. But I would bet she's at least 60-75%.

Just as an experiment, two weeks ago I took Wesley to the Children's Museum. We love it there. Lots to do and see. But we have been before and last time it was properly documented on um..film? jpegs? Anyway we got proof already. So when we went this time, I tucked my phone away and refused to look at, tweet, update a status, or most difficult--take any pictures. It was tough. Several times she would look at me just right or be so into something I would really want to share, but I held strong. And you know what? We had the best time. I got to see everything she was doing, I really watched her little head take it all in. It was our day, no one else had to see it or know every move we made.

When you have a kid they are your world, you love them so much more than you can explain. And now that she is turning into a real person I feel like I just want to tell everyone. But I do realize everyone doesn't care as much as me.

So here is my public resolution: I Mary Elizabeth, heretofore, be it known, shall TRY, to take less pictures of my child, or at least delete all the ugly, blurry ones and only save those that actually matter. Hence, I shall enjoy my child fully and not miss moments, while trying to document said moments with technology.


P.S. I'm still going to take too many pictures, I am still going to post too much about my kid on facebook, I am still going to make photo books (thank you groupon!). But this experiment opened my eyes to letting go of the camera more often and enjoying just her. Because it is going by too fast, and we have plenty of pictures!

Fun Friday

Since Memphis Fridays Part 2, I haven't actually done any touristy things on an actual Friday because we have been super busy. (Wesley and I did go tot he Children's Museum of Memphis, but I did not take any pictures, more on that later.)

The first Friday after, we had my best friend Kendra's and Antonio's wedding festivities::

 The the next Friday Matt and I were in Greenwood::

And this Friday I am winding up a week teaching a musical at a church drama camp.

Despite our busy schedule, I did want to give my 7 readers a fun Friday post today to make up for my lack of learning about my fair city.

So introduce to you, who like me may not know about this trend, PLANKING. Apparently I am late to this phenomenon. It has been a trend for some months now to find random places and lie face down in them and have your friends take pictures of you. You then post the picture to the social network of your choosing and flag it #planking so that people around the globe can follow the planking trend. Matt explained all of this to me last weekend while we were sitting in the very elegant courtyard of our hotel. He then preceded to start planking, in between civilized guests entering and leaving the hotel. I could not stop laughing. So here you go, Happy Friday!

The Alluvian

This past weekend Matt and I escaped to Greenwood, MS. I mean when you think getaway you thing Greenwood right?!!? It's okay if you don't really think that. I wouldn't have either if I hadn't heard from friends about The Alluvian.

The Alluvian is all you need for an amazing weekend. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere, MS but man is it nice! As soon as you walk into the courtyard everything is perfect. I would have taken pictures but this is vacation! Just trust me. In the lobby there were silver platters and bowls full of green apples, I touched one while waiting for the elevator and exclaimed "Oh, they're real" Matt burst out laughing, "Why wouldn't they be?" I didn't know why they wouldn't be, other then there were just so many of them, it reminded me of a fancy wedding I once attended.....

 

Anyway, when we got to the room I was greeted with champagne and strawberries! And a giant feather bed. Cue the choir AHHH! 

**Y'all, I dig sleep. Like a lot. For many years every present Matt got for me in same way involved improving my sleep-pillows, featherbeds, blankets etc. You would think someone who liked sleep as much as I do can sleep anywhere, not so my friends. I think I cherish it so because it is so elusive to me.

Anytime I sleep away from home I am nervous the bed won't be right. This was the definition of right. Like being hugged by satin feathers. If only I could have smuggled that bed out....

Next up on our adventure away was cooking school. I told you, The Alluvian provided everything--perfect bed and entertainment! All we did was walk across the tiny picturesque main street. Walk into a state of the art Viking kitchen and whip up lamb with polenta and tomato ragout! So much fun!! And we learned a lot of little tips and tricks for normal everyday cooking, too.

Day 2 at the hotel was dedicated to the spa, again right across the street from our hotel. I enjoyed an hour long body wrap, which was amazing. And Matt had his first spa experience with a massage and "gentleman's facial."

So no pictures, but this spa is now tops on my list of destinations.

We spent the rest of the day eating local cuisine (Delta Bistro BIG thumbs up!) And strolling the shops. After that it was cocktail/nap time. The evening was topped off with dinner at the hotel restaurant Giardina's it was sooooo yummy. If you go, whatever you do get the fried green tomatoes, do it. 




The next morning we slept late, ate breakfast in the terrace room, dawdled....watched our noon check out get closer and closer and then at 11:58 took the elevator down and checked out. Don't worry though, our getaway was not quite over. We still had 1 1/2 hrs in the car together, lunch AND the new Harry Potter movie. None of which disappointed.

It was such a refreshing 3 days. I missed my baby girl, and Matt did too. But I am a firm believer in parents taking time for themselves. I think it makes us better parents. Truly, not just because vacations are fun. I think our lives deserve balance. And when you take time to create that balance EVERYONE benefits. And I know for a video taped fact that Wesley Elizabeth had an amazing vacation with her Sissy too. I think all of us were equally spoiled! Thank you so much to Meghan and Ryan for keeping her and letting us sneak away!

Unacceptable

Sometimes when I get up to pee in the middle of the night and this guy comes to visit me

It is unacceptable.

P.S. super hard to squish, also making them unacceptable

Isn't it Ironic

When I have time to blog, nothing is going on of any interest. When I have lots to blog about, you guessed it...no time for writing!

Since I've gotten a bit wordy lately anyway...here's the past week in chronological pictures. It was fabulous.

Monday July 4th: Family and Friend cookout Extravaganza

 

 

 

Wednesday July 6th::Dessert Shower for Kendra

 Friday July 8th :: Bridal Luncheon, Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner for #Kentonio2011

Saturday July 9th:: Wedding and reception #Kentonio2011

  Sunday July 10th::Clean up/Pick up/Dress up

Backyard Overhaul 2011

Our backyard is pretty much our favorite place. It may be 70% of the reason we bought our house, okay...80%.  It's big (for the city), so it's hard to get a picture that justifies it's awesomeness. The deck is two levels, and has built in benches. We just love it. 

The backyard also has 17 trees. Which means great shade, so it is always 10-20 degrees cooler in our backyard, again awesome. Throw in the brick pathways and the amazing elm with the perfect branch for a swing and I'm telling you, you should be jealous. But before you hate us too much...all that awesomeness comes with a price. And now that we are wrapping up our second year in the house, we have learned. 

17 trees produce a lot of leaves. No problem, we bought a blower. But, brick pathways and lots of gardens require maintenance, like weeds and stuff, ugh. That is my kryptonite. I did not get the southern girl gardener gene (like that alliteration, don't ya). And when the weeds grow, it is hot y'all. 

So last year I hired someone to really clean everything up at the beginning of the summer, then I used the weed eater for the rest. This year I got smarter. If you don't want to pull weeds out of the ridiculously large garden, take out the garden! This fall we will be seeding the empty spots so next summer all I have to do is mow! Problem solved.

Next, trees. Trees require maintenance. Professional maintenance.  Because we had such a stormy spring I really started to analyze the branches on those 17 trees. Especially our 80 yr old Elm, directly behind our house, hanging over my child's bedroom. I called Harrison Tree Service, I highly recommend them of you have large trees around your house. Mitch is great. Honest, stands behind his work and he is a certified arborist, so he didn't just hack at my trees, he wanted them to be healthy.

Finally, the deck. As I said we love our deck. We spend a lot of time on it. And more importantly it is the gateway to  the back yard, our back door literally opens on the deck. So we are adamant about taking care of it. And, we have come to that time in our life when we look at projects and if they have more than 3 steps or involve chemicals.....ding ding ding..... we hire someone. Enter Dr. Deck n' Fence. Again, if you need someone, could not have been nicer guys, I highly recommend! They came out for an estimate within days, and did our deck in 3 days (would've been 2 but it rained). So here's the before:

Not falling down or anything, but definitely getting rough. So here's the after!

They are bad phone photos, but hopefully you can tell it is now all one stain, and what you can't tell that is more important is it is sealed! Which apparently it was not before. So good all around.

All of these improvements were our attempt at being conscientious homeowners, but more importantly we also hosted Fourth of July this year. I kinda have a busy weekend (#kentonio2011) but next week I will be posting on the fun we had Monday night!

Memphis Fridays::Part 2

So I've decided this summer Fridays are devoted to learning about my hometown. I didn't plan this, but it has now happened two Fridays in a row so, that's what I'm going to do. Since I didn't realize this tradition, my last post will now be referred to as Memphis Fridays::Part 1, please make note so you can cite it correctly when discussing my blog with your friends.

My cousin Jen is in town from London. Pretty cool, eh? She's not from London, she's from California, I guess. I say I guess because she hasn't lived in the same place for more than a few years since she was 15. Her previous addressees include Uzbekistan, Thailand, Greece, and Amsterdam and I am leaving places out! She is a world traveler. Again, pretty cool. But she is making a rare visit to the states and so we needed to go to neat tourist spots. She had checked a great site, The Lonely Planet for what she needed to experience in Memphis and thus our Friday was planned!

**Note::It's extremely awesome to entertain someone from out of town for the day, I mean seriously, how many of us actually see all we should of our own hometown?

So we started the day at The Arcade. It's Memphis' oldest restaurant, circa 1919. And been the backdrop to scenes in "Great Balls of Fire. " "The Firm," "21 grams" "Walk the Line" and "Elizabethtown." All that is great, but it doesn't hurt that the food is AH-Mazing as well! I recommend the beignets, #8 Redneck Eggs (which is really biscuits and the best ever gravy). But there is so much, you really can't go wrong! I have eaten at the arcade a few times and I am so happy every time. Let me know if you want to go cause I almost ordered the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich today, but didn't because it was 9am.

We walked waddled from the arcade to the trolley stop and hopped on for a lovely ride down main street.

It was a nice way to let our food settle before we started our downtown walking for the day. After the trolley tour, we hoped off at the Civil Rights Museum. I had never been, but really wanted to go for years. It was fabulous! They have done an amazing job with sharing this pivotal piece of our nation's history. You start the tour with a documentary "The Witness" told from the point of view of the only man that was actually on the balcony with Dr. King. It is so moving. There is is so much to the story I didn't know, actually to be honest, it turns out I didn't know the story at all. I just knew he was killed here, and I assumed it was because he was a black man trying to change the world. But there was so much more, and so many more. The documentary was nominated for an Academy Award, and deservedly so.

You are not allowed to take pictures in the museum, and you know I hate breaking rules so I just grabbed two quintessential ones on the way in. This is where he was actually shot.

And this is the plaque (NOT to be confused with plague) The verse really hit me, so fortuitous and powerful.

After you do the museum, you can walk across the street and actually stand where James Earl Ray shot him, it is very eerie and heavy, but I think it really brought it home.

We left the museum and headed to A. Schwabs, the oldest general store in Memphis. It's closing, which is why Jen wanted to see it, before it was gone forever...and the history stuff, too. I have been to this store on several occasions and can I just say....I don't get it. Sorry. But I'm not really surprised it's closing. It's crowded and dirty and full of unnecessary stuff. And the "necessary" stuff is so overpriced! For example they had plain white t-shirts, $3.95 a piece. Seriously?!? A pack of four is $5.99 at Wal-Mart. And don't say it's the novelty, a plain white T is never novel.  Okay, rant over. Sorry Abraham Schwab, I'm sure it was great in your day.

We then swang? swung? swinged? by  The Peabody. Just to see it. And grabbed the only pic of me of the day. I may submit it to awkardfamilyphotos.com

So in our defense, here's what's working against us 1. It was wet b. My mom was trying to work my phone to take it and also we were in the middle of the tourist attraction others were trying to see, so we were hurrying. This little guy had a much better pose.

Next stop, lunch. One of my all-time favorites, always a home run, HUEYS! I had the french dip, Mom and Jen got the world famous burgers. We were all more than happy with our choices! No pics needed.

After we were stuffed for the second time, we grabbed the car and headed north to another museum I have never been to, and you have probably never heard of, Slave Haven.

This house was a stop on the Underground Railroad. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Y'all. I mean really. Crazy history here. Again, no pictures were allowed, but I highly recommend it. Great way to spend 45 mins and $6.

So that was our tour o' Memphis::: Arcade-Main St.Trolley-Civil Rights-A.Schwabs-Peabody-Huey's-Slave Haven...Pretty impressive day, huh! Anybody up for the Pink Palace, Brooks or Dixon? Stax? Or do you have a better idea for next Friday? I mean nothing is going on next weekend, right?! KIDDING Kendra, XOXOXOXO