There's a frat guy in my uterus...

That, or the little lady in there doesn't have the daintiest of palletes. Gaby told me he had Zinger Melts (boneless chicken wings smothered in sour cream and melted cheese) for lunch today and I almost had a foodgasm. Then I started fantasizing about another one of the Alehouse's specialties, their smothered cheese fries, and that almost sent me over the edge with jealousy over the fact that he got to eat there for lunch and I didn't. And for weeks now I have been dying to go to Hooters so that I can have some of their curly fries dipped in the hot cheese sauce. YUM!

Too bad that, in reality, if I sat down at one of these restaurants and someone put one of those plates in front of me, I would probably only be able to eat a fraction of the portion I used to. But, oh man...I would savor every bite!

LOL

8 weeks and a handful of days

I am so swamped right now with school and a special project I'm on for work. I'm really behind on blogging - reading and posting. Next week will likely be worse since I have a final and a paper due. I don't want to fall behind on my pregnancy posts, but it will likely be another week and a half before I get back to regular, non-baby related posts.

I'm officially 2 months this week, which means in just about four weeks I'll be out of the first trimester...YAY! The first trimester is a scary place. There's so much that can go wrong in those first few months, and the risks decline dramatically once you enter the 2nd trimester. The 2nd trimester is my happy place. I know it will be an extremely hectic and stressful few months while trying to prepare for the bar, but I am really hoping that my body and my baby cooperate and that it turns out that what the majority of pregnant women say is the case rings true for me - that the 2nd trimester is the most comfortable. I can't really complain because the 1st trimester hasn't been too terrible. I am mainly hoping that my "pregnancy brain" subsides a little bit and allows me to study and actually retain information.

Here is my belly today...still no real progress:


I felt disgustingly bloated today. I've gained a pound, which I'm guessing is probably bloat and boobs. Speaking of boobs - they're getting big. And heavy. And when I say, "getting big," I should really say "getting bigger" or even "getting more gigantic." I was a 32DDD (equivalent to a 32F) before getting pregnant (a lovely gift from Mother Nature) and they seem to be getting bigger and heavier by the day. My bras still fit me, but they're getting quite snug. I am just praying that I fit into at least a few of my bikini tops come June when we're going on a week-long cruise with my parents.

This was the week of snacking. I still can't eat big portions, but my appetite for snacking is big. Watermelon is a big one...I was craving watermelon so much on Monday that I got in my car and drove to the store to buy some. I'm also eating a lot of saltines (spread with either cream cheese or peanut butter), cashews, cheddar & sour cream Ruffles, string cheese, cheddar Goldfish, Wheat Thins, and Bluebell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. That's right...the sweet tooth is back. Well, not totally back, but that ice cream is seriously the most delicious thing in the world. Freaking delicious.

Inspiration from Megan

Megan of Lovely Happenings has had the cutest material the last few days...

This adorable little French girl who makes me want to send my future daughter to French boarding school as a toddler so that she can come back speaking like this:



An ingenious Macbook sticker:

And this, which will be funny to anyone who spent a decent chunk of their childhood playing Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo:

I keep saying in my pregnancy-related posts that I'm not craving sweets, but it seems that all the recipes I post are for desserts. How freaking DEELICIOUS do these Doughnut Muffins look?

7 weeks and 2 days (or 3 or 4 or 5 days)

This was taken last Wednesday, on April 22nd. I weighed half a pound more that morning than the morning of my positive pregnancy test. I think my weight is fluctuating back and forth a bit but it should be any day now when I start to see a steady increase. I've been eating soooooo unhealthily. The only thing keeping me in check is that if I eat too much, I get terribly nauseous. I'm so lucky because this is closest I've gotten to "morning" sickness (which as any pregnant woman knows can strike at ANY time of day). I am used to putting away pretty big portions. Now, I can barely eat half of what I used to eat without making myself sick. I have to stop before I'm even satisfied and then just wait a little while and have another bit of food then. And the kicker is that I feel great and really enjoy the food in the moment. It's about 15 minutes later when my stomach starts churning. So every day I'm learning more and more just what I can eat and how much of it I can eat. Sweets are still not really appealing to me...I can eat them if they're set in front of me, but after a few bites, I'm done. I'm still craving fried food (chicken fingers are my best friends), potatoes, pasta, cheese, bread, and crackers.

In much more exciting news...I finally got to see my baby last Tuesday. AND IT WAS AMAZING! I went in for what I thought was a routine doctor's visit and when my doctor walks in, he informs me that I am due for an ultrsound to confirm the pregnancy. I had NO idea that they were going to do it that day! Gaby was soooooooooo upset. He had been waiting so anxiously for the first ultrasound (which we thought was May 11). When I called him and told him that they were about to perform an ultrasound, he was devestated. It really sucked not having him there, and it was kind of weird not to share that moment with anyone except the OB. I would have become much more emotional if Gaby was with me, but since I was there alone, I didn't want to weird the doctor out by getting all weepy.

Anyway, it was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Before that ultrasound, I really didn't feel very connected to this baby. I knew that I was pregnant, but the idea that there was a baby in there was still a very abstract one to me. But seeing that little blob on the monitor and seeing the flicker of his or her heartbeat was truly magical. I know it's cheesy, but I really can't explain the rush of love I felt for that little blueberry at that moment. Truly an incredible moment. Now I feel SO connected to the baby. I'm constantly rubbing my lower belly, talking to my baby, and becoming really excited for December to finally roll around! We still have a ways to go :) I'm also just counting down the days till May 11. I can't wait to see the baby again, and for Gaby to finally get to meet his baby.

Oh, and my ultrasound actually revealed that the baby is measuring a handful of days bigger than I had originally calculated. So it seems like I'm due in the first few days of December as opposed to the 6th or 7th like I originally thought.

Last Friday night, we babysat our friends' 7 month old baby, Ava. She is truly one of the happiest babies I have ever met in my entire life, and was so easy to take care of...it was the easiest babysitting gig ever! Gaby, of course, was beyond wonderful with her (no surprise there), but what REALLY made me excited was how good the puppies were. They were so loving and although not quite "gentle" (they were definitely all about wanting to lick her little face the same way they lick ours, and clearly that required a need for us to hold them back), they definitely exceeded my expectations. Stella, who is somewhat skittish at times, was actually terrified of Ava at first and would run any time Ava reached out for her. After a while, though, she was okay. Shula just wanted to be next to her the entire time, and was totally cool with Ava grabbing her face and pulling her hair. When Ava was napping on us, the girls just wanted to get close to her and sniff her head (and her diaper lol). Overall, the night was a great success. The pups still have some work to do before they're fully baby-proofed, but we're not as far from good behavior as I thought we might be.

You can't really tell from the angle of the picture, but Ava totally had her left leg draped over Stella's back and Stella didn't mind one bit :)

Cookies & Cream Rice Krispies Treats

How scrumptious do these look?
I love Rice Krispies treats, and I am an Oreo cookie fiend, so these are right up my alley. This may be enough to get me out of my non-sweets-craving slump. Recipe can be found at Annie's Eats.

another funny

i don't know what's wrong with me, but all these random internet videos keep cracking me up. i am laughing like a madwoman right now. wtf is this thing?!

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

l.m.a.o.

this commercial gets me every time:

Pregnancy Guide

A cute and helpful pregnancy guide by Abbey of Abbey goes Design Scouting.

amen.

found on for the visionaries

Spinach'n'Peace

My friend Lauren is a very talented artist. I've always been a fan of hers, so of course it makes me extremely proud everytime I see her getting public recognition. I actually commissioned Lauren to create a custom painting for me that I gave my husband as a gift on our 1 year wedding anniversary (1 year traditional gift = paper, and canvas = paper...yay!). It's one gift that I know will be hard to ever top. I will try to remember to take a picture of it and post it later, but basically it's an abstract-ish kind of silhouette done in browns and reds and yellows of Gaby and I during our first dance at the wedding. And then in Lauren's gorgeous handwriting, in gold ink, are the words to the chorus of our first dance song. It hangs in the hallway right outside our bedroom and it's seriously one of my most prized possessions.

Lauren's work was recently featured on Lilly Pea Designs. Be sure to check out her Etsy shop and her blog, too!

i've been tagged!

tagged by the wonderful Mrs. J L from The JL Family. Her blog is so cute, and her son Johnny is adorable :) I really enjoyed reading 10 honest things about her. Here's my list:

The Rules are as Follows:
1. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs for brilliance in content/design.
2. Show the winners and let them know.
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

1. I love to cook. My mom is a great cook, but growing up I never had any interest in it. Then I got engaged, something came over me, and all of a sudden I was interested. I guess even though I never tried to learn from my mom, certain things did rub off on me from watching her my whole life because I picked up on it pretty quickly. My favorite thing to cook is Italian food - pastas and risottos.
   
2. Gaby and I are obsessed with our dogs, to the point that I think people think we're weird. I know only other dog parents can understand. But to the average person, I'm sure we seem pretty wacky. People keep asking me what we are going to do about our dogs when the baby comes, because right now both of them sleep in our bed. Honestly, I don't see this changing. I don't get what the big deal is. There's plenty of room for the 4 of us plus a baby.
   
3. I think I reached my peak of religiousness in high school. At some point in college I started to lose some of my connectedness with God and with praying, and ever since it hasn't been the same. Now that I'm pregnant, I feel some of that slowly coming back to me. I still don't really consider myself that much of a religious person...I think I'm more spiritual than religious, if that makes sense. But I've definitely prayed more in the last few weeks than I have in a long while, and when I go to Mass now (I never stopped going), I feel much more into it and connected with the whole process.
   
4. I'm kind of sad that this pregnancy has turned me off from sweets. I'm dying to have something rich and chocolatey like brownies or an Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen. But none of those things appeal to me right now.
   
5. I want new clothes but I know that's not the wisest thing to spend money on right now. We're trying really hard to save for all the new things we'll be needing in the next 9 months, and I know I should just wait until I see how my body changes before buying anything.
   
6. My taste in home decor has been changing a little bit. It sucks because my husband and I were on the same page when we first bought and began to decorate our apartment, but now there's things about it that are starting to annoy me, while Gaby still loves it. I foresee big arguments when we buy a house and have to decorate it because I know he's not going to like some of the "looks" in home decor that I am leaning towards now.
   
7. I'm really over school. Like really. I finish on May 8th, which I know is right around the corner, but it seriously feels like an eternity. I have to write two papers and take a final. I know that's really nothing, but when you're tired and distracted and feeling lazy all the time, it's hard to find the motivation. I can't believe this is really it for me...after 13 years of elementary/middle/high school, 4 years of college, and 3 years of law school, I'm finally done!
   
8. I think that if I could change anything about myself, one of the first things I would consider doing would be to give myself a beautiful singing voice.
   
9. I never want to live anywhere else in the world than where I live now. I guess if i I were a millionaire, I'd have vacation homes in the Caribbean and possibly in Spain or Italy, where I would spend a few months out of the year with Gaby and the kids. But Miami will always be my home base.
   
10. I have a really unnatural fear of side zippers...those zippers on dresses or tops that zip up the side of your torso and finish near the armpit. Especially when the piece of clothing is tight. I always get scared that my armpit fat is going to get caught in the zipper when I'm zipping it up. I always hold those things as far away from my body as possible when trying to close them.

Hope you enjoyed those! And hope I didn't scare you off with my freakiness!
Now I tag...

1. Confessions of a City Eater
2. Spinach'n'Peace
3. Jackie's Ever Exciting Life
4. Journeys of Mangonett
5. Our Life With Jake
6. My Journey to Becoming a Domesticated Belle
7. The Adventures of Chunky
   

From the Archives

I fell in love with this shuttered bulletin board featured in Apartment Therapy and shared it with my friends back on December 12, 2008. I wish I was more crafty/handy!

Instructions here.

6 weeks, 2 days

Please note my puppy Shula in the lower right-hand corner, looking at me as if to say "WTF? Has mom finally lost her mind?"

No weight gain reflecting on the scale yet, but there's puh-lenty of bloat. I think it's a combination of the pregnancy hormones, but also of being off the strict calorie-counting diet I was on up until I got my BFP ("big fat positive" - as in, big fat positive pregnancy test - in pregnant woman lingo). I had been so careful and so aware of everything I was eating and making sure to keep track of every little snack and nibble, and I was actually able to drop a handful of pounds which I am really grateful for. But now clearly calorie counting is out, and eat what you want, when you want it (all within reason, of course) is in. I'm sure I'm probably consuming at least 400-500 calories more daily now than I had been in the last few months. However, in the last few months I had been consuming a pretty low amount - enough to help me shed about a pound or two a week. So I figure the extra few hundred calories bring me to "maintenance level" (a.k.a., the number of calories I would need to maintain my current weight, versus what I would need to consume to lose weight), plus tacking on another 100-200 calories extra for the baby, which according to "What To Expect When You're Expecting" is all that the sesame seed needs right now. I'm indulging on copius amounts of carbs, so I'm sure that's affecting my little stomach pouch too.

Of course I am still super aware of what I'm eating, but for totally different reasons. Now everything is about what is safe or unsafe for the baby. My OB was pretty relaxed when I asked him about food restrictions - contrary to what I had read on some internet message boards, lunch meat is totally fine as long as it's of a reputable brand and from a reputable source. Which is great, because turkey sandwiches have replaced my daily Lean Cuisine for lunch habit. Obviously anything raw is out...which affects sushi, but I am a sushi little-leaguer anyway. I was never one to try some of the more adventurous raw options. I usually stick to cooked rolls. And fish no more than once a week...this is, again, fine by me. I am not a big fish person, though I LOOOOOVE shellfish, and from what I've read in my pregnancy books, cooked shrimp and lobster are just fine (Thank God!). My doctor didn't tell me anything about caffeine, but I have completely cut it out. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I've been known to slip into pretty bad Diet Coke and Excedrin addictions from time to time. I know caffeine in moderate amounts is considered safe, but for some reason I really haven't missed it, and as long as that's the case, I'd rather not chance anything. I'm sure later in the pregnancy when the seed has reassured me a little more about the fact that he/she is doing fine, I'll have my Diet Coke here and there. But for now I just feel better avoiding it.

My Florida Bar Application...

...is in the mail! WOOHOO! :) I am way behind schedule. It's officially not due till May 1st, but most of my classmates sent theirs in months ago. What can I say, it's the procrastinator in me. I am hoping since that I don't have anything shady in my background to report, it won't take them too long to process everything. Now we just need baby sesame seed to cooperate and behave so that mommy can study for, take, and most importantly, PASS the bar exam without a hitch!

This made me cry...

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent
(you gotta click on the link because YouTube disabled embedding on this video for some reason)

Talk about inspiring...this gave me full-body goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes. One of my favorite songs of all time and she NAILED it! Go Susan!!!!!!!

Wise!

Seen on La Mia Vita and Lovely Happenings

Sweet!

Instructions on how to make your toast adorable using regular old cookie cutters found on Ohdeedoh. Perfect for bringing your sweetheart breakfast in bed, no?

Clever!

Draw-in Digital Message Cards...Found on Unplggd and can be purchased at Urban Outfitters

Food Porn

I've been craving hot, savory, salty, starchy, carb-y comfort food. Pasta and potatoes and warm buttered bread. I've always been an ice cream and chocolate fiend, and while I wouldn't go as far as to say that I've developed an aversion to these foods, they definitely do nothing for me anymore. I'll pass.

These roasted baby dutch yellow potatoes from Pam of For The Love of Cooking are calling my name right now. And they're so simple. The only ingredients are the potatoes, olive oil, sea salt, and garlic powder. I can't wait to make these!

floating on air

I am loving this gorgeous, rosy image from JacqleenBleu (found on A Merry Mishap). Wouldn't it make a lovely print for a baby girl's nursery? ;)

Pregnancy brain...

Apparently it strikes early. Just a few minutes ago in my last post I was complaining about how I couldn't find my camera's memory card transfer cable and it was preventing me from posting my pregnancy test pics, and I just now realized that I already did that (uploaded the pics, that is). OOPS. So here they are:

The bottom one, where the line is darker, is the first one I took. It was approx. 6 pm and I was on my way home from the hospital having just visited my aunt and my newborn goddaughter. I was a few days "late" and I just stopped at Walgreen's to buy the test on a complete whim. I was certain that I wasn't pregnant...I just decided to take a test for the heck of it so that I could definitively rule that out and then try to figure out why my period wasn't showing up. I took the test, set a timer for 3 minutes, and went about my business, fully positive that it was going to be negative. Sure enough, before the 3 minutes were up, I happened to pass by the bathroom and decided to glance at the test. I seriously thought I was hallucinating when I saw the two lines. Then I thought it was defective, because clearly since I was not pregnant, only one line should have been showing up. After several seconds of confusion it finally hit me that I was pregnant.

In the past, whenever I daydreamed about getting pregnant, I always thought of these romantic and exciting ways that I would break the news to Gaby and to our parents. Then reality struck and I was so stunned that I couldn't even think straight, much less go along with an elaborate plan to surprise Gaby in a cute way. Thank God he was on his way home already, because had it been in the middle of the day, I probably would have blabbed it over the phone. The minute he walked in the door, it was written all over my face that something was up. I asked him to sit down because I needed to tell him something, and immediately he knew. 10 minutes later, I was chugging glass after glass of water so that I could take another test. That's where the top one in the above picture came from. I'm figuring the 2nd line was so much lighter because I had diluted my pee from guzzling all that water minutes before taking it.



Then it was off to Walgreens again to purchase more tests, this time in a variety of different brands, including the digital ones. Can you tell we were in disbelief? This digital one is what sealed the deal. I think when Gaby read the word "YES," it finally hit him, and that's when he gave me a big hug and got choked up. We had always said that we would wait several weeks before telling ANYONE we were pregnant, including my parents, but as those positive tests began to add up, the dad-to-be could not contain his excitement and insisted on calling his parents. I would have paid a million bucks to have seen his mom's face when she heard her first grandchild was on its way, but unfortunately I had to settle to talking to her on the phone. Later that night, we went to my parents house to tell them the news (they live 2 minutes away from us). They were beyond shocked, since no one was really expecting this, and after a few minutes of staring at us in silence, they finally cracked some big smiles and got excited :)

As I said, the 12 days since have been a whirlwind, and already things have not gone how I imagined them, from how I told my husband, to how we told my parents, to how we ended up making the news "public" to the rest of our families and friends. I guess that just goes to show you that no matter how hard you try to plan things (and I am big on future-planning), you never know when the moment strikes what you are going to be feeling or how you are going to react. I think I still would have liked to have kept this our little secret for several more weeks, but now that it's out in the open, it feels good. I love being able to talk to my mom openly about it, and talking to my cousins and friends who are new moms or currently pregnant about what their experiences have been.

One of my cousins who is due in August also broke the news of her pregnancy when she was very early along, just a day or two after her missed period and her positive pregnancy test. She told me that she's very happy she told everyone and got to share the joy as soon as possible, but she warned me that this was going to make my pregnancy feel very long, since you pretty much have your whole world waiting with you for the next nine months (versus the next 7 or so months, should you choose to wait a little while before spreading the news). I think she's right. As crazy as the last week and a half has been, April 1st feels like it was forever ago. And May 11, my first opportunity to see my little seed, feels like it'll never come.

I've been a-slackin'...

This has been somewhat of a slow week for me, blogwise. I've been trying to keep up on all my blog reading, but it's been a bit harder to keep up with my blog posting. First of all, I just wanted to say...

From Cake Wrecks

I hope you're all enjoying a wonderful Easter Sunday with friends and family :) Gaby and I are heading out to his parents' house for lunch in a bit, and then tonight we have dinner with my side of the family.

Second of all, although I think most people who read this blog are already aware of my news, I think it's time that I officially "come out" in the blogosphere...I'm pregnant!!! We just found out last week on April 1st (try telling your parents that you are pregnant on April Fool's Day and see if they take you seriously) and the last 12 days have been a roller coaster of every conceivable emotion under the sun, from shock to worry to joy to excitement. Once I got over being stunned, I allowed myself to actually start getting excited about this little sesame seed, our early December baby, although I feel like it's still so early and there is still so much room for worry. I won't have my first ultrasound until May 11 (the day after Mother's Day, at which point I'll be 11 weeks along), and I don't think I will be fully relaxed until that happens and I can see with my own eyes that there's actually a healthy little baby in there with a strong heartbeat. Until that happens, it's somewhat hard for me to believe that this is all real and that we're really going to be parents in approximately nine months. I spend every single day praying for a healthy baby, and ask anyone who will listen to please send lots of prayers and/or good vibes my way so that this little seed actually sticks around and makes me a proud momma.

So far, THANK GOD AND KNOCK ON WOOD, I've been feeling fine. I'm exhausted all the time, and I find myself going to sleep much earlier than usual. But luckily that has been the extent of my symptoms. My boobs are a little bit fuller and sore, but nothing out of this world uncomfortable. I know it's still really early and I have the potential to start feeling sick at any time. One of my cousins started to feel severe morning sickness at 6 weeks (which I hit tomorrow) and another one at 10 weeks. I know everyone is different, and I really have no way of knowing how my body in particular will react to this pregnancy (especially since it's my first), so right now I am just trying my best to stay positive. I keep telling myself that I will feel fine and I hope if I can convince my mind of that hard enough, maybe my body will follow. I am supposed to take the Florida bar exam in July and that was my first concern when I found out I was pregnant. Not being able to take the exam, or not being able to study properly for it and then fail it, would be one of my worst nightmares. The next opportunity to take it would be in February 2010, at which point I will most likely be the mother of a 2 month old infant. So needless to say it's very important to me that I am able to take this test and pass it now so that I never have to worry about it again. I have been getting a lot of positive reinforcement from everyone, from my mom to my friends, and I am so grateful for that. Now it's just a matter of waiting and seeing what will happen.

I really wanted to post some pictures of my positive pregnancy tests (I took 4, and got pictures of 3), but I can't find the stupid cable thingie that reads my camera's memory card. So instead I'll share my "belly" pictures...in which, of course, there is not yet a belly. I definitely have a little pouch that protrudes where my rock-hard, washboard abs should be, but that made its way onto my stomach way before the baby came along as a consequence of the blessed Newlywed 10 (8 lbs. of which I was able to lose in the last few months before getting pregnant - yay!).

So here's the day I found out I was pregnant (4 weeks, 2 days pregnant):

(sorry about the blurriness)

And here's the belly a week later, at 5 weeks, 2 days:

I really wish I could say that little protruding bump in my belly button area is all baby, but it's definitely not. The baby is currently the size of a sesame seed, and located several inches south of that little bump, lower in my pelvis.

Since I found out I was pregnant on a Wednesday, my goal is to take belly pics every Wednesday for the remainder of the pregnancy. I can't wait to see the whole timeline when I'm all done. I'm not super eager to start showing (I have lots of beautiful pre-pregnancy clothes that I love and would prefer to continue wearing for as long as possible, thank you very much), but at the same time, I think it's going to be so fun to actually have a real baby belly where people can tell just from looking at me that I'm pregnant. So far I feel kind of like a faker...I tell people I'm pregnant, but I really don't look any different :)

Anyway, I'm not planning for this blog to become purely baby-related. There are still a lot of other topics that I am super interested in and want to continue sharing with all of you. But this pregnancy will definitely give me a lot of material to blog about, so you can expect to hear regular updates on that front in addition to all my other musings. Thanks for letting me share! :)

Chic Trench

Usually the fashions found on The Sartorialist are a little too out there for me. I'm a simple girl, and I tend to stick to the classics/basics. But this hot little number featured today made my heart sing:
I looooooove the classic black trench balanced out with the sleek leggings and then finished off with the sexy nude patent pumps. This is precisely the type of weekend outfit I'd wear if I lived in NYC.

Simply Irresistable

from for the visionaries

Are ya kidding me? Fluffy little white bunnies with black ears? Wearing little pastel striped shirts? All piled up on a table a few days before Easter?! Gimme a break! :)

Where can I find...

one of these babies?
I'm totally feeling these light and airy little rompers for summer. Don't know if I would go all out with the metallic strappy heels like in this picture, but with cute and casual flip flops, I think they're a go. This particular version, though beautiful, is from BCBG and a bit too pricey in my opinion for something that will probably go out of style very quickly and won't make it out of my closet past Labor Day. So I'm on the hunt for some cute, less expensive ones. Forever 21 has a couple but I need more places to look...any ideas?!

oooh la la

A delicious Italian featured on The Sartorialist. Why can't American men (more specifically, my American man) dress like this?! So sexy...

Happy Birthday, Steph!

My amazing friend Stephanie turns a fabulous 25 today. She and her husband recently found out that they will be moving back to Miami after a few years of living in Boston where her husband studied medicine. Alex, who is very gifted, was accepted into the University of Miami School of Medicine's ortho residency program, and Steph will be transferring to a local law school. They are in the process of house shopping in Miami. We couldn't be more thrilled to be welcoming them back home :)

Happy Birthday, Steph!

You're so pretty...

From ZooBorns

What a gorgeous baby giraffe! These have to be some of the cutest animals on the planet...those eyelashes are a dream.

Pencil Cup Calendar

Found on DesignSponge

What an adorable and clever little DIY project! So perfect for an office desk.

Ambitious Eggs...

How beautiful are these gold Easter eggs? So pretty! The recipe involves sucking the insides out of the egg with a syringe, filling them with chocolate, and then painting them with gold powder and tequila. Way too advanced and ambitious for me, but they sure are great to look at. Found here.

988

That's the number of unread new items in my Google Reader (a.k.a. Inspirationville, USA). It's been a long, crazy, and exhausting week. I haven't really sat down in front of the computer for a significant amount of time since Wednesday morning, which in "Jen-internet-time" is like 8 years. Anyway, I am looking forward to a relatively quiet, relaxing weekend, so hopefully I'll have a chance to catch up and return to my regular blogging :)

Sweet underground spiral wine cellar

How cool is this baby?

Seen on Simply Stated, can be ordered (ha!) at Spiral Cellars US

I love the "trap door." My dream house would definitely feature one of these!