This bird is making her nest... IN BULK

From what I understand, this whole nesting thing is different for everyone. People get the urge to do all kinds of crazy things. Luckily for me, I am doing what I usually do, just in a more extreme version than ever. Think cooking, cleaning, preparing in bulk. Yep, Ive been to Costco twice this week.

Trip #1

Trip #2

In case you are new here or today is your first day (what I like to say to the dude if he is asking something utterly ridiculous), first understand that I spend a large portion of my energies cooking and cleaning up after myself (& Jasmine). The cleaning is usually just generally maintenance, cleaning up my cooking mess or organizing then reorganizing. When asked where Jeff thought I would be when I go into labor he answered, "the gym, TJ Maxx or the grocery store because that is where she is every day". I wanted to argue but sadly, it is true. He knows my every move based on the daily credit card transactions.

*Yes, I have made an arrangement with a dear friend to drag my laboring body to Nordstrom (at the very least!) instead of having my baby up in the TJ Maxx or something. 

We have both spent this entire pregnancy in prep mode. We have been reading and staying on top of what we need to do and be ready for. I am 100% aware that something will catch us off guard so make no mistake that I am not also prepared for that. Yes, I am preparing to be caught unprepared, even after all of this. Otherwise, what would we laugh about when we retell this years later?

So, since we moved into this house (that my freezer selling and above dealing making friend, who happens to be a real estate agent sold me in the fall)  and have the room for one now (and our freezer/refrigerator basically just sucks), I have been saying that I wanted a small deep freeze for the side storage room. I have kind of looked around, ok one day I saw one at Costco and that is about the extent of my "looking".  Last week I posted on Facebook that I was looking for one either new or used and one of my favorite friend/clients informed me that she had one to sell.

The next day, I set out to go check it out and it was more wonderful than I imagined. For the low price of $75, I loaded up this baby into my new mom car (then I went to brunch) and then I hauled it home where it fits perfectly in the storage room. All day (all week really) I was just bursting with happiness about my new freezer. You would have sworn I had just gotten myself a unicorn.  That's how excited I am.

Why? Mostly because, as I mentioned before, I have a super sucky freezer. One of those side by side ones that is supposed to be nice and fancy but is really pointless. But also because I am willing myself to be a breast milk producing machine. I know that breast feeding is really hard work, especially at first, and that not everyone is successful with it (so you can spare me that "lesson" if you are going to send me an email of Facebook message telling me how it really is, I don't really care for that anyway). In sticking with my obsession with being uber-prepared, I have this freezer that I am visualizing being so full of breast milk that I am basically handing it out like candy to trick or treaters or something. If my neighbors read this, I will probably not have any trick or treaters this year, but thats ok.

Since I am 37 weeks pregnant as I am writing this, I am not pumping and storing yet. I have a pump but I don't know how to use it yet. What I am doing is cooking so much food for myself that you would swear that I am preparing for the zombie apocalypse, if I were planning to have the zombies over for a dinner party? In the spirit of being proactive, along with my constant fretting over what will we eat next and will we have enough for guests, I have started cooking for an army. I am freezing dinners for Jeff and I for once he goes back to work, our family is gone and people stop dropping by with casseroles. I know that I wont die if I have to eat peanut butter & jelly or cereal for weeks at a time but I would really rather not. Im quite spoiled that way.

Last week I started thinking of what kinds of delicious dinners that I would miss when I no longer have this kind of time/energy, because I will be a tending to the child. I got some great recipes from my friend Beatrix Bell, I made some of my favorites and I am requesting things this weekend from Jeff. I will include the recipes when I can but know that anything that is my usual special I probably made up, sorry!

Monday I made several pounds of meat sauce, which will be fabulous over pasta in a pinch! Tuesday I made chicken and dumplings in the crockpot and I have to tell you it was amazing! Recipe for that is here and so easy! Wednesday I made 3 turkey quinoa meat loafs, I know 3 was a little nuts but I doubled this recipe thinking it would be 2 and turns out it I had more. Thanks Bea for both of those amazing recipes. Thursday I made this chicken crockpot goodness that I make all of the time. I kind of tripled the recipe so that we would have dinner and then 2 freezer meals.

Now Jeff is making several pounds of meatballs and I am really looking forward to meatball subs. I will be taking some to our friends who just had a baby a few weeks ago, I think they will enjoy! I am also making my mom's strawberry bread recipe. It makes 2 loaves so that will be one for us and one to take to our new friends who have a new baby.

If anyone is interested, I am happy to share the recipe for both that chicken crock pot dish (it has olive and prunes in it, so think sweet/savory) and the strawberry bread. I can easily put them into a pdf to link here, I just have the written down so I won't bother doing that unless you ask. Just leave me a comment and Im happy to share.

this will soon be strawberry nut bread!

Who knows what I will be cooking next week. I haven't gotten that far yet. I will keep you posted. I want to do that whole freezer crockpot thing where you put everything that you would crockpot into a bag and freeze it so you just have to dump in the crockpot and cook. I am having trouble finding recipes I like.

Last week I made 2 trips to Costco, yes 2. I told you I was kind of out of control. Tonight I am making pulled pork (one of my favorites). I am reigning myself in a bit and only making half or a third of the 14 lb pork butt I got last night from Costco. I am convinced that I will be so damn happy that I have all this food a few months after we have this baby. Maybe people will still come hang out with us because we will still have good food, like we usually do. It will just be precooked instead of the last few years where Chef Jeff made everything cooked to order. Times they are a changing but I still plan to eat well.

If anyone has any crockpot recipes that I might like, please share!  We eat relatively healthy so think basic veggies and protein and nothing covered in Velveeta cheese, I just threw up a little when I typed that. I am also looking for more good options of things to cook in large quantities that freeze well. Any suggestions?

The details are coming together....

First came the paint, then the decal....Oh and we ordered that damn chair weeks ago....But last week it finally arrived. So here she is!

It was a relief when it arrived and I still love it. It is super comfy and looks great! Love the color. 

When my mom was here for the shower, she bought this rug. I love it! Very good purchase, it makes me very happy. Thanks to Gram and Safta for getting this nursery in order with the necessities. If it was left to me, who knows what this room would look like! Would he sleep in shoe box, or maybe an empty dresser drawer? Now that we finally have a dresser?

Jeff ordered 2 covers for the changing table and they arrived a few days ago. This one is my favorite, the other one has a monkey on it. They are both super soft. It must be nice to be a baby and get to lay on soft stuff all of the time. 

This is the original inspiration piece that the nursery was built around. I got these hooks from Urban Outfitters, maybe before I was pregnant. I am just not sure exactly where I want to hang them. Jeff is driving me slightly insane to make a decision so he can get them hung but I'm not ready to commit so we wait. 

This weekend Jeff prepared our cloth diapers. This was a bit of a process that requires its own full post so thats coming soon. Last weekend he washed all of the baby's clothes and hung them up in the closet in order of size. I believe it is all coming together. 

This is the 36 week. I start going to the doctor weekly now, so Im guessing we will start getting progress reports on how close we are getting. This week we need to get the car seat installed and pack that hospital bag. 

I will be doing a cast of my belly too, that will be a whole thing and I can't wait to see the final product.  Im working on making a video for the post on the amazing baby shower that our friends gave us. Ah, what a blessing.

Hot Date on Friday Night

Things have changed for us in the past few years. The days of walking from our funky little Spanish Town houses to the bar or the parade route or Happy's Running Club seem to be memories from a distant past.

No complaints, we've had some time to transition. Planning the wedding was big undertaking, then we became homeowners. Now we are in the final days of it just being the two of us (plus Jasmine & Charlie), before the little one makes his appearance.

Maybe I'm just naive, but I thought we were supposed to be just chilling right now and the real work was going to start when he gets here. Every weekend we attack our never ending to do list. It feels good to be making progress but it seems like once we do one big project (like painting or decorating), then there is just another one around the corner.

This weekend, our goal is to get the must haves. You know, those things (like a car seat and a stroller) that we need to bring him home. So tonight, we tackled Babies R Us. We were there for less than an hour and I managed to get $800 of "necessities" and go to the bathroom 3 times. Good thing that Jeff had his clip board to keep us organized and the muscles to carry the goods to the car. My man has the muscles and the brains!

Since it was in the same parking lot, we popped into Kroger for a few items. 

The honeydew is for the fruit of the week, 35 week pic, to be taken tomorrow. I ran out of raspberry leaf tea (which I call vagina tea), our midwives recommended that I have 3 cups a day starting a few weeks ago. Since it comes 16-20 bags to a box, I am going thru it like crazy. The pomegranate soda was just an impulse buy at the register. Of course, Mr. Safety Inspector, only approved the purchase once he confirmed that it was caffeine free. 

Tomorrow is my last wedding before the baby. Then Sunday we head over to get the must haves from Franklin Goose.  Our other 2 registries, besides Franklin Goose and Babies R Us, were at Amazon and Pottery Barn Kids. Between these 4, we should be able to get everything we need. Right?

For now, I will have some tea...

Winter Retreat to Park City, UT

Park City, UT 2013

My in laws decided to pack up and head west about a year or so ago. After building their dream house, the now live full time in Park City, UT. Tough life living in such a beautiful place. Last week, Jeff and I went out for a week. This is great timing for us because Jeff enjoys skiing with his parents, while the slopes are not so crowded. It is the week of the Sundance film festival so people are engaged with movie going and star spotting. I saw Nicole Kidman!

I dont ski. Not just because I am pregnant right now, but because I just don't. Yes, I have tried and no I am not good at it and I do not like it and NO, I don't want you to teach me. I am perfectly fine shopping, or eating, or lounging, or blogging or snow shoeing or doing anything else.

Jeff skied 3 or 4 days while we were there and he also worked a few days remotely so he wouldn't have to use so much vacation time. If you follow me on Instagram (@starstylist), you probably saw my pics of our adventures. Here are some....

There was plenty of wildlife spotting. Here is one of my daily deer photos

and the elk, which I really wanted video of but this quick Instagram shot out the car window was all I could get:( I really wanted a snow bunny shot but I only saw them at night.

I captured some fun shots of Baby Jeff. What a cutie! Right?

We got our baby his first Sundance Film Fest t-shirt. He can't wear it until he is about 2 but thats cool. It  is his souvenir from his first time there. We had tickets to more but we managed to make it to see 2 movies. One very weird one  (Two Mothers) and one very hilarious one (Austen-land).

I managed to keep on my workout schedule and even stuck to my January Workout goal (you saw this video right?) to mix it up with at lest one strength day, one yoga day and one day of swimming a 1/2 mile. How dedicated am I? So dedicated that I swam here. Yep, its heated and didn't seem like the worst idea until I had to get out:). So far I haven't missed a week yet!

I did some blogging and some Vlogging, yeah thats what us cool kids call video blogging. I did one on my 1 minute (out the door FAST) face, that is here.  And I also did one for my March Money Making Makeup Artist workshop, that is here.  By the way, I really need some help getting the word out on this so anyone who wants to share it and help would really make me happy, hint hint! I also did one on my must have products for winter so stay tuned for that one!

You know I LOVE anything S'mores. Some people only make s'mores when they go camping. I am of the belief that this treat can be enjoyed indoors, like this...

Before we left, I decided that it was time to learn to use this camera that I had bought 3 years ago. It is very fancy and has lots of bells and whistles but I needed some instruction to be able to put it to use. My friend, Julie, who took those lovely photos from our gender reveal party, gave me a lesson before we left. I promised that I would put some of her teachings into action and practice.

I even took it out on the day that I convinced Jeff to go snow shoeing with me. Now, I have only been once, which was last year with Casey (who was 7 months pregnant at the time). Casey and I went on a short little "snow walk", which is what I thought Jeff and I were doing. Instead, we trudged a few miles thru the golf course and I swear it was uphill both ways. I could have sworn I was going to die out there. Thankfully, I had my phone and called my father in law to come and pick us up because there is no way I was going to make it back home. 

Here are some of the non-iPhone photos that I took....what do you think?

little too close!

thats better!

Snow Walking with Moses

Just practicing with some things lying around.

Here is some video of our snow-shoeing past and present. We like to have a good time:)


Our next visit to Park City will be in the summer, which is a bit more my speed. I won't be pregnant then and will have the grandparents on hand as babysitters, so I plan to really have some adult fun. I will probably be moving more quickly and breathing less heavily then. I hope.

Gender Reveal

So last week we had a gender reveal party to find out the sex of our baby. This was by far, the best way for us to find out. You know that I LOVE a party, especially with surprises and lots of hype. Our fabulous friends, Casey and Julie, really went way above and beyond to make this incredibly special for us. We will never forget it. Thank you so much to everyone who gave a little something to make this so amazing for us.

Oh, in case you somehow missed it....we are having a baby. I have posted this video on Twitter and Facebook about a million times but I will go ahead and put it here in case you want to watch it again.

We got some great photos and videos that I need to edit so that they are manageable enough to share, so those are going to be added soon, I promise. For now, I did get this video up so that we could announce the big news and share how we found out what we would be expecting in May.

I will be adding more, like our letters to each other and the baby and Aunt Casey's poem that she wrote for us and the baby. Just like her, it is hysterical, very sweet and really fun. We also played a lot of fun games. Casey and Julie surprised us by having our moms join the party via Skype. Wow, technology is so cool. This was great because they got to be a part of the last game we played (that I won!) and they got to see us open the box and find out with us.

Having an incredibly talented photographer as a friend is a wonderful gift. Here are a few of my favorites that my friend Julie took for us that night.

"the" revealing photo

Everyone had to wait for the video to hear the news, but I did make 1 exception to that rule.  

I think she is saying "Please tell me this is not true!"

Happy mom and dad!

This is, by far, my favorite photo!

Wait, no, its this one!

I think this is a printable. 

Team blue for the win.

One of our best surprises for the night.

Team pink, sad to have lost the game but still excited to welcome baby boy.

Little Spencer, says "Don't be sad, little boys are lots of fun!"

I write to the baby every week, this is the last letter before we know the sex.

Always festive. The details are important. 

Future big brother!

More videos and and photos to come! Are you liking the personal blog updates? I am shooting for once a week! Lets hope I can keep it up!

Tacky Light Tour of Richmond

Thanks Chris and Ashley for taking us on our very first Tacky Lights Tour! 

Chris (a life-time local)  was a great trip advisor but if you do not have your own trip advisor, you can get the info here to manage your own schedule. People go all out, renting buses or limos. Its kind of a big deal.  

My personal favorite was the house that had a sign saying tune to this radio station. We followed the instructions and were pleasantly surprised when we realized that the lights were "dancing" along with the music, which happened to be the club version of "Amazing Grace". No, Im serious. You can't make that up! Strange song choice but impressive display of the Christmas spirit.

Our trip advisor, Chris, took alot of pictures. I will upload more to facebook since blogger is giving me fits today. Enjoy!

As a side note, I cant look at all this explosion of spirit withouth thinking,
#1. Why would you do this?
#2. How much is your power bill?
#3. And you want to cause a traffic jam in your neighborhood every night for a month?
#4. Do your neighbors hate you? year around or just at Christmas?
#5. Do these people plan to be on the tacky light tour OR are they shocked when their address makes it on t he list?

Either way, it was fun.

And I found this website with more info on the tacky light tour. Who knew it was the 25th anniversary!

After the very first "tacky lights" tour was organized by Richmond radio deejay Barry "Mad Dog" Gottlieb in 1986…
After being named "the capital of the lighting universe" by BusinessWeek…

And a "Christmas beacon" for tacky lights from Forbes Magazine…

After being featured on NPR for our tacky lights...

And TLC's "Crazy Christmas Lights" TV show...

Mayor Dwight Jones has named Dec. 15, 2010, "Richmond Tacky Light Tour Day."

Which basically means that Tacky Lights are being recognized by the mayor and its 25th anniversary here in Richmond.