A Suddenly Busy Summer, and Some Questions for You

My summer was originally going to be pretty low-key.  The plan was to work at J.Crew about once a week, and spend the rest of the time working on my classroom, reading tons of books, and overall just relaxing and laying low with the pups.

Recently though some things have changed, and now my empty summer (with the exception of 3 more weekends away) has gone to jam-packed.  A family friend of ours who is pregnant has had to go on bed rest, and has asked if I could nanny their nearly 2 year old son, 4 days a week.  Although I'm beyond thrilled to spend tons of time with the adorable little guy, it has made for a more hectic schedule than I originally anticipated. 

With the addition of this new gig, as well as the fact that we are out of town for the next 3 weekends in a row, I just wanted to give you all a heads-up that my blogging may be a little sporadic through July.  Hopefully not, but it's a strong possibility!

Anyway, here are some random thoughts/questions on this Tuesday morning:

• Friday we are heading to Big Bear for the 4th of July with some of the other young couples at CAhusband's office.  They've split everyone's food contribution into meals, and we are in charge of providing breakfast for everyone on Saturday morning.  We want to make something fantastic, but are torn on what to make.  If anyone has any fantastic breakfast ideas/recipes, feel free to send them my way!

• We finally started watching True Blood Season 2 this weekend!  We've finished discs 1 and 2, and will undoubtedly finish the season by next week.  Given that season 3 is currently playing on HBO, I'm going to be tempted to subscribe.  Does anyone know, can you just cancel HBO at any time, or do you sign like a year contract?  We really won't use it enough to justify the cost after True Blood ends, so I'm curious if we could cancel as soon as this season wraps? 

• 
  
  I'm so lucky that my parents are available to watch Piper and Reilly while we're out of town this weekend, and again for our trip to La Jolla in 2 weeks; however, we are having a family friend stay with them while we are all going to be away at my SIL's wedding next weekend.  I'm curious what you guys think is an accceptable amount of payment for stay with 2 dogs for 4 days?  She will sleep over and will pretty much stay here while she's not at work.  She will need to walk them once in the morning and once at night, but otherwise, they're actually VERY easy to take care of.  Have you ever paid someone to stay with your dogs?  How much do you think is acceptable?

Thanks for any input you may possibly have! 

Have a great day everyone!

Fall Music I'm Dying to Get My Hands On

Now, I know that we just celebrated the official arrival of summer last week, but I'm already dying for fall to get here.  Yes, I'm already ready for the heat to subside but that's not the thing I'm most excited about; I just got wind of some new music that will hit iTunes in full force this September that I'm already pre-ordering!

Sara Bareilles Kaleidoscope Heart CD release date September 7th

Current Single, King of Anything

Sara's first CD Little Voice was played constantly in my car for at least 6 months, and I love the first single off of her new CD!  You can mark Kaleidoscope Heart for pre-order on iTunes now!

Maroon 5 Hands All Over CD release date September 21st

Current Single, Misery

I may or may not be slightly obsessed with Maroon 5 (ah-hem, Adam Levine).  I practically burnt holes in Songs About Jane and It Won't Be Soon Before Long, so there's no doubt in my mind that I'll love their third CD Hands All Over.  I also read that there is a collaboration with Lady Antebellum on the new album, which will likely be amazing.  The first single, Misery, sounds very typical Maroon 5 (nothing wrong with that), but the rest of the CD is rumored to be sounds like something completely different.  It doesn't look like the whole CD is available for pre-order quite yet!

Is it sad that while searching for an image of Maroon 5 for this post, I ended up drooling over Adam Levine pics like this one for a good 15 minutes?

Now, who knows if you're all as excited about both of these CD's as I am, but I've already downloaded the current singles.

Will you buy either of these CD's?  What do you think of the singles?

Those bags from the East Coast

After traveling last week 2 things became very clear to me:

1. I hate flying across the county and being at the mercy of soulless airline workers

2. I absolutely love my Vera Bradley duffel bag, but since my current set is from 1997, it's time to invest in a new one

Now, I AM NOT of those Vera obsessed ladies who carried a rainbow paisley, quilted cotton purse; however, I love her bags for weekend trips, travel accessories, teacher tote bags, etc.  I currently have a pretty badly beaten duffel and hanger bag set (although for 13 years old (seriously), it still looks great), as well as lots of other little pieces for travel (jewelry bag, toiletry bag). 

Unfortunately, one thing became very clear to me once moving to CA.  People in SoCal DON'T DO Vera.  A month or so ago, I had my small tote bag that I carried to and from school with binders, etc. and one of my co-workers at J.Crew saw me.  All she said was, "Oh, look, you have one of those cute bags that people on the East coast carry."  Needless to say it was in a "oh that's lame" kind of way, rather than an "oh your tote really is cute" kind of way.  Also, in the Midwest (and possibly the East Coast too?) you can't go anywhere without seeing Vera Bradley in a store or on someone's bag.  On the other hand, out here, I literally haven't seen it anywhere, no teachers have it, not at the airport, not in a store. 

Regardless of the fact that these bags are not trendy, I love them for traveling.  I have decided that I need to invest in the following items:

Large Duffel $80

Curling Iron Cover $17
My SIL has this and I'm obsessed with it.  My curling iron is always hot when I need to pack it, so I end up carrying it separately and sticking it in my bag at the last possible second.

Travel Cosmetic $48
My current cosmetic bag had to be trashed after my Shimmer Brick busted all over it and wouldn't come clean.  This kind has little pockets around the inside and is perfect!

Now, onto the patterns I'm torn between!  Keep in mind these are cute travel bags, not bags I carry to the mall, to dinner, etc.  Which would you pick?  (No I don't want Vera placemats, but this was the best way to show the patterns clearly). 

Make Me Blush

Loves Me

Poppy Fields

Do you love or hate Vera? 

Do you have a Vera Bradley duffel that is perfect for weekend getaways?

Which pattern would you choose?

My Summer TV Addictions

I think I've made it clear that I enjoy a lot of TV!  Over the summer I usually go through good TV withdrawals; however, this summer I'm not really suffering too much!  Here are the shows that are getting me through the summer....

Sunday:

Next Food Network Star, Food Network 9 p.m.

Next HGTV Star, HGTV 10 p.m.
Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, E! 10 p.m.

Monday:
Real Housewives of New Jersey, BRAVO 10 p.m.

Tuesday:
Cupcake Wars, Food Network 9 p.m.
The Good Wife, CBS 10 p.m.

Wednesday:
Top Chef D.C., BRAVO 9 p.m.

Thursday:
Bethenny Getting Married, BRAVO 10 p.m.

I think Bethenny Getting Married is by far my favorite new show.  What are you watching this summer?

11 Months In, and a Funny Story

Friday was our 11 month anniversary, and holy cow, how is it possible that one month from now CAhusband and I will celebrate our 1 year anniversary?!!?  It truly doesn't seem possible! 

Nothing much has changed for us this month, but I'll leave you with a little story to show you how well CAhusband knows me...

Some background info: Thursday I had to have an unexpected root canal.  Although it was much easier than I anticipated, my mouth was pretty sore that night.  CAhusband went to the store and bought stuff to make chicken quesadillas for dinner because this is a dish he can handle making on his own, and it was soft enough for me to eat.  When he came home from the store he also surprised me with a Kit Kat and Reeses.  I was super excited because I always have a sweet tooth and CAhusband rarely indulges it.  We both agreed to put them in the freezer (we like them that way) and then we would choose one to split after dinner.  We would then have the other one as dessert after dinner the following night. 

Well, we forgot about our frozen chocolate dessert that night, and I woke up Friday morning to a house with no food and a major sweet tooth.  It then occurred to me, oh yeah, we have that candy in the freezer! 

I started searching, but the candy was gone!  After a few minutes I realized that there was no way CAhusband actually ate that candy and that he had most definitely HID IT FROM ME, so that I wouldn't eat it!  Well, this was a challenge I would not lose, so the searching began. 

After minutes of searching, and nearly giving up I FINALLY found them both in the back of a box of Texas Toast!!!  Seriously, he hid them way in the back of a closed box of Texas Toast!!!!  Now, I'm not sure what's more pathetic, the fact that he knew I would want them so badly that he went to such great lengths to hide them, or the fact that I actually did find them. 

Now, what did I do?  Well I ate the damn Kit-Kat, for breakfast at 7 am, then hid the wrapper in the trash can.  I then added another Kit-Kat to my Target list, went to Target, bought the Kit-Kat and re-hid it in the Texas Toast box! 

CAhusband still has no idea that I did this, and there is one reason why.... he would never forget it and would tease me endlessly.  We have still not eaten the replaced Kit-Kat or the original Reeses, and I have pretended to forget about them.  One day soon CAhusband will exclaim, "Oh my gosh, let's eat that candy in the freezer that I bought for you awhile ago,"  and I'll respond, "Oh yea, I forgot ALL about that." 

Now, if I can just go until then without needing another chocolate fix, I'll be good. 

Do you see how well my husband knows me?  He knew I would crave that chocolate first thing in the morning, because I always want something sweet. Now, I don't think he's quite aware of how much I like a challenge or the lengths I'll go to in order to score some chocolate, but that's a secret I'm willing to keep. 

All in all, we're both a little sneaky, but I love my husband dearly!  Oh, and don't you worry, he's still yet to read this blog, so I'm not turning myself in at all.

Fill in the Blank Friday

It's time for Fill in the Blank Friday over at The Little Things We Do!  This week is a "school" edition, which I kind of love!

1. The best thing about being in school was/is getting to see all of my friends everyday!  As a adult who has moved away from most of my friends, I miss the days when it was given that I would see them all EVERYDAY!

2. The worst thing about being in school was/is homework.  Although I begged my first grade teacher for homework because I thought it was so cool, once I got older I HATED the added stress of it.  I was involved in A LOT through middle and high school, and homework kept me too busy!  I am easily overwhelmed!

3. My favorite subject in school was/is spelling!  I've always been awesome at mastering a spelling list!

4. One subject I wish I could have mastered is Spanish.  Although I hated studying for Spanish SO MUCH, it really is something that I could use a lot.  Every once in awhile I toy with the idea of buying Rosetta Stone to become fluent, but dang, that program is expensive!!!

5. I could never get tired of studying .... let's be honest, I think it's pretty easy to get tired of studying almost anything.  I know there certainly isn't any school subject that I wouldn't get sick of.  I love literature though, and probably wouldn't ever get sick of reading great novels (required textbooks obviously don't fall into this category).  I also really like reading "teacher books" that introduce new teaching strategies, etc. 

6. The most memorable teacher I had was my 2nd grade teacher- Mrs. Mikesell,  my 4th grade teacher- Mr.Crow , or my 6th grade teacher- Mrs. Scamihorn.  They were all fabulous, and definitely contributed to the fact that I wanted to be a teacher myself some day! 

7. If I could choose between going to school for the rest of my life or working for the rest of my life, I'd choose well, I kind of go to school for work, so I guess I've chosen both?!?!  I loved being in school though, and sometimes toy with the idea of going back to school to learn something completely different. 

Hometown Goodness

We were able to spend less than 24 hours at home last week before heading to Chicago, and boy did that short amount of time get me thinking about all of my food favorites that I can't enjoy here in the desert.  CAhusband and I both grew up together in the same Indiana town, and although we love life in CA, those hometown food favorites are some of the things we miss the most here on the west coast. 

1. Royal Feast Pizza and Breadsticks from Pizza King
Although this pizza may not look like much, it is absolutely delicious.  CAhusband and I both grew up eating this pizza at least once a week, and get cravings for it all the time!  Even in college, we would demand this pizza everytime we had the chance to go home.  When CAhusband's mom asked what we wanted to do for the short time we were home we only had one request, "as long as we get to have Pizza King, we'll be happy."  Due to the fact that this pizza is so popular in our hometown, they ship frozen pizzas in dry ice all over the country.  Although we question the expense, it's definitely something we're tempted to order!

 

2. Chicken Nachos from Qudoba

I didn't discover Qdoba until college when it arrived on Purdue's campus, where I religiously ate it at least once a week.  Now, this wasn't one of my healthiest habits, but it was delicious.  My roommates and I could always be spotted at Qdoba on Sunday's for lunch, and I crave these chicken nachos constantly.  The closest Qdoba to us now is an hour away, so the whole time we were in the Midwest the constant closeness of Qdoba was taunting me.  Even while running through the airport to catch our connection in Atlanta, a Qdoba was right there just begging me to skip our flight and enjoy their nachos.  Ahh, my unsatisfied Qdoba craving is still plaguing me now!  It's been almost a year since the last time I enjoyed it, and I vow to eat it at least once while in Indiana again next month!

3. Vito Sub from Jimmy Johns

I still have my order memorized, "Vito on white, no lettuce, easy mayo with salt and vinegar chips" (not that it's a tricky one, or a healthy one); and forget walking the 3 minutes to the actual store, Jimmy delivers so fast that I only ordered via debit card over the phone.  The cyclist delivery man would literally get there in less than 5 minutes every time, and I even had the different location phone numbers memorized so I could appropriately place my order based on where I was on campus!  There are literally NO Jimmy John's out here, and although I got a little burnt out of Vito subs for awhile after graduating, I'd love one right about now!

What are your hometown favorites that you miss most? 

Our Chicago Wedding Weekend Getaway!

We finally made it home from the O'Hare/Atlanta airport disaster!  More on that later, but I couldn't wait to share some pictures of our Chicago wedding weekend.  Molly and Bob threw an amazing party to celebrate their union, and it was fantastic to see so many of my friends I hadn't seen in almost a year. 

Unfortunately I didn't get too many great pics, so I'm borrowing these pics from my friend Tracey!

Molly and Bob after the ceremony 

Kappa girls

CAhusband and I at the cocktail hour

Now, I'm praying my suitcase arrives soon while doing laundry and unpacking our carry-ons!  More soon....

We're Off to Our First Wedding of the Season!

We're off  to Molly and Bob's wedding in Chicago!  We're taking the dreaded red-eye tonight (Wed.), and will arrive in Indiana tomorrow morning (Thurs).  We will then spend less than 24 hours at CAhusband's home in Indiana before riding up to Chicago on Friday morning with friends.  We will then fly out of Chicago on Sunday night!

We're extremely excited to celebrate Molly and Bob's big day, and it's extra special, because they actually secretly got engaged at our wedding!  Below are the pictures that our photographer was able to snap of the newly engaged couple dancing the night away! 

Luckily, Molly and Bob are using our same photographer, Megan Wynn, and after seeing their gorgeous engagement pics this spring I'm already excited for their wedding pictures!

All Photos by Megan W Photography

I doubt I'll be blogging the rest of the week, but who knows! If you don't hear from me before then, I'll be back on Monday with a full wedding weekend recap. 

CAwife's Take on Current Events

I say current events, like I'm discussing the big issues here... this is definitely not the case.  We're talking purely superficial, E! News-like current events here.

My fave RHNJ, Teresa and her husband are filing bankruptcy..... say what? 

Given their lifestyle on the show, I never would have seen this coming.  I sure hope this doesn't mean they'll start dressing their adorable girls in Gap Kids, because that would seriously hurt her ultra-lux NJ status. 

I consider myself to be a pretty big Rihana fan, but come on, what in the world is going on with the red hair with shaved sides, while wearing cone boobs and a leotard?

Maybe this is just a look she was trying out in Spain, that won't make it back to the US?

 Although I couldn't bear to watch the MTV movie awards because of how ridiculous they were the last time I watched, I'm sooo happy to see that Sandra Bullock made an appearance.  The Sandra and Scarlett lip lock was a bit much (and hello, female kissing scenes are a little overplayed on these MTV gigs aren't they), but she looked great and happy!  The fact that she was able to make light of her whole situation speaks volumes. 

Please, oh please, let all of this hype over the new iPhone finally convince my husband to let us switch to AT&T!  My Blackberry is seriously lagging, and  I can't even tell you how much I want an iPhone!  Now with a super cool feature like video chat, how could he resist? 

My Dishtowel Obsession

Okay, now I've mentioned my hand towel obsession a few times, but after doing some Anthro browsing this weekend, I realized I could easily sink a few hundred dollars into some gorgeous tea towels.  Luckily, I do have a small amount of willpower, and would only allow myself to buy one of these pretty towels every great once in awhile, although I would truly love to add them all to my collection.  Unfortunately, most of these towels are way to pretty to use for drying the dishes, and would likely just adorn the door of my oven. 

Here are the dishtowels on my Anthro wishlist:

Short Order Dishtowel, Orange $18.00

Short Order Dish Towel, Teal $18.00

Fruits de Mer Dishtowel, $18.00

Storybook Romance Dishtowel Set $42.00

Frukost Flatware Dishtowel $18.00

Sweet Stack Dishtowel $16.00

Laundry Day Dishtowel $24.00

Birder Dishtowel, Aqua $24.00

Now, here are some of the dish towels that I actually own and love (and they don't cost an absolute fortune):

Marimekko Kippis Tea Towels (Set of 2)  $25.00

Williams Sonoma Logo Towels (Set of 4) $18.00

 I own tons of Williams Sonoma towels, and love them! 

There are always tons of the seasonal ones on sale after holidays too.

Martha Stewart Collection Kitchen Towels (Set of 3) $11.99

These are some of my all time faves.  I have 2 sets of aqua and 2 sets of white,

and they're really thick, yet soft. 

MU Modern Waffle Dishtowel (Set of 2)

I mentioned these exact towels in my CSN giveaway, and am still obsessed with them!  They are incredibly soft, and come in tons of really pretty colors.

So, now that I've bored you all with my pretty dishtowel obsession, is there any random household item that you find yourself hooked on?  I'm almost embarrassed that I devoted an entire post to this... almost.