Oh why must you show me so many pretty thing?
Oh Design Sponge! You find the most beautiful things. Robbie if you’re reading this, please bookmark this site and consider this as a gift for me one time. Maybe we could hang it next to our bed. Oh how pretty! [Yes I recognize husbands don’t typically want to describe something other than their wife as “pretty” in their bedroom and therefore that previous sentiment might not seem like incentive, but whatever this is really pretty] Also this anchor one is beautiful for my cape cod friends. Hopefully someone will enjoy this as a wedding gift.
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Another reason you should always bring underwear
So this weekend I had the unfortunate experience of discovering another reason you should always bring underwear on vacation.
We went to the Cape this weekend to stay with my mother, attend a bridal shower, a bachelorette party, and host a breakfast for some old girlfriends who’d all planned to be in town this weekend. I know action packed weekend. Much to my chagrin, when I woke up on Saturday morning I realized I’d forgotten underwear. No big deal right? I’m at my mom’s house, I’ll just wash them in the sink and then toss them in the dryer for a few min and wallah! Clean underwear… or so I thought.
As it turns out, I only put them on air dry, which discovered at the exact time I was indeed supposed to be at the bridal shower. Thus in a panic not to miss one of my dearest friends celebration, I finally acquiesced to my mom’s offer to wear a pair of hers. Yes, I know. I can hear you all shouting at me not to do it, but in rushed, frenzied state I caved. On went my mom’s underwear, which were saggy in the ass and, no joke, almost reached up under my bra line. Not a pretty picture.
So now I dash around the house to gather up all my of bridal shower supplies and I take a brief swing through the living room where my husband is sitting doing work. Thinking this is all hilarious, I yank up my dress to show off the hilarity that is me in my mom’s underwear. He freaks out, covers his eyes, and screams why are you doing this to me. Now I’m rushing down the street to arrive at the bridal shower, what I think will be late, wearing my mom’s underwear. However, turns out I have the time wrong and I’m actually 30 minutes early, leaving plenty of time to have dry clean underwear of my own.
As if you needed another reason to always bring underwear, but here it is: you may just be forced to wear you mom’s.
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When you say “whimsy”, you really mean crap
I watch a lot of design shows and flip through design magazine. I’ve mostly whittled my way down to only watching the top design shows and reading the best blogs, at least in my mind, like Divine Design with Candice Olsen, Room Service with Sara Richardson, and Design Sponge written by Grace Bonney. I do however often get sucked into the second tier of design shows, mostly because I can’t wait to see how awful the room is.
I think one of the core things they have in common is the use of “whimsy” in their rooms. Typically this means reusing some old unidentifiable material and turning it into a lamp or candle stick holder or some other flare for the room. They are horrible. “Whimsy” is the design show equivalent of the craft made out of a toilette paper tube. Without fail when a design show says that this is going to add a bit of whimsy to the room, it ultimately means this is going to add a bit of crap to the room.
When you walk into our house, I strive for a house devoid of “whimsy”, at least “design show whimsy”.
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Oh thank you Design Sponge…
Oh thank you Design Sponge for showing me these most beautiful mobiles today. I am totally in love and think I must have one.
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A random list of questions and answers
So I found this random list of questions on a blog I stumbled across. It’s one of those lists people who have just discovered email — you know the people who forward you every forward, urban legend, chain mail, etc– forward you and hope you send back so you can get to know each other better. Well I read this random person’s list and it entertained me so I thought I’d subject you to the same thing. Here they are.
1. FIRST NAME? Courtney
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No. I was almost named Nina after my great grandmother, but my dad vetoed it. As a child I was really glad he did, but now as an adult Nina would have been a nice name.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Hmm last week in an overtired, desperate state after having been up all night with my daughter and then having her stand at my feet screaming “Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy” until I picked her up
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It’s not so bad. But it’s definitely getting worse as the years go by.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? I don’t really eat lunch meat. First of all it’s hard to find gluten free lunch meat and I also HATE lunch meat after a day or so. If it’s at all shiny…UGH.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Totally. Probably best friends.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Sort of. I never kept a journal until recently. I read about a common trend at the turn of the century called a “line a day” journal that basically was just that – short snippets of each day. I thought it would be a really neat record of our lives for my kids and their kids. I’ve been doing really well but will admit that last entry was July – all of July in one entry. So much for one entry each day that month huh?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I don’t think so. It seems like it would feel like going over a big bump in the car but magnified by like a 1000 and I get pretty car sick easily. I don’t think Sea Bands could help me there.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Gluten free crispy brown rice with rice milk.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I try to avoid shoes with laces at all times. The one exception would be my pair of Keen walking shoes and I don’t untie them before I take them off.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Ahh probably not.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Vanilla ice cream with maple syrup poured on top. It’s a New England thing.
14. SHOE SIZE? It was 8.5 but after having Mazie it’s now 9 and never went back. Many friends were the recipient of some very nice and only slightly worn size 8.5 shoes.
15. RED OR PINK? Hot pink.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My Knees. They really aren’t good.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Hands down my grandmother. She might have been one of the greatest women who ever walked this earth.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No, I repeat please no. I’m not going to read it, which I recognize is totally hypocritical because I’ve answered these questions and subjected you to it, but please no don’t send it back.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Shoes: Pinstriped pants, white button down shirt with a brown tank underneath (surprising since I almost always layer with a tank in hopes that people will mistake my mummy tummy for a roll caused by my layered tank top), and blue Dansko sandals.
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Oh a delicious salad with beets. God I love beets.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The sound of my office fan and the copier stapling things.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Flesh color. It’s very nice.
23. FAVORITE SMELL? My daughter. See this post.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My voicemail.
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Hands. Always the hands. Creepy hands and you’re out. I’m not even sure we can be friends if you have creepy hands.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I’ve never met her before. It’s a random blog I stumbled upon off of my Ravelry page. [Editors note: Ravelry is a social networking site for knitters. I’m a knitter.]
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Jasmine tea. It’s the best way to start my morning.
28. FAVORITE SPORT? To watch: baseball. To play: nothing that involves running. My theory on running: I don’t run even if I’m being chased.
29. EYE COLOR? Brown
30. HAT SIZE? Normal I guess.
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope. I like the way I look in glasses.
32. FAVORITE FOOD? Really can you have a favorite?
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I don’t do scary. I watched the Facts of Life Halloween special one year and had nightmares for a week. It’s just not in my best interest to do scary.
34. SENSE OR SENSIBILITY? I’m not really into this question.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Spring and Fall. Fall mostly. I LOVE Fall.
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs. Hugs make me feel plugged in. Like you’ve just plugged me in and recharged my soul. Ooh I can’t wait to get home and have a hug.
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Well pre-Celiac diagnosis I would have said something like a heavenly chocolate cake, but alas that is not in the picture any more, nor is it appealing when it makes you sick. Now, most definitely crème brulee from Soma in Beverly. Ooooh so good.
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Again, don’t respond.
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I hope all of you.
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Witch of Portebello
41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? I don’t use a mouse pad. I have a trackball mouse.
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Bad TV night last night. Although Monday was great with Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill reruns. Oh boy. My husband says they are lame but he always ends up “doing work on the couch” on Monday nights with me.
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Recently, I’ve discovered I like the noises Turkeys’ make. I didn’t realize that Turkeys have a different sound say from other barn yard fowl like Chickens, but we’ve been visiting farms a lot lately and Turkeys sound really nice.
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones.
45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Namibia, but at the time it was home. So does that count? Who cares you’re not going to respond anyway.
46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Making up random lyrics to songs on the fly.
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Hyannis, MA
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Some times are great
I have to say this might have been one of the tougher parenting week’s I’ve had since Maze was born. She’s cutting 5 new teeth, 2 eyes and 3 molars on top. It’s not been easy for her at all and therefore has not been easy on me. She’s been up every night multiple time and two of the nights, basically up at 2:30ish for the duration. Mummy has been the only thing that does the trick, my husband seems to just make it worse by his mere presence in the situation (poor guy, what a ego kill).
But some times are great. At one point this sleep deprived weekend Mazie was sitting on my lap snuggling and contently drinking her milk. We just sat together listening to Rod Stewart’s set of Standard’s, which was playing on my mom’s stereo — snuggling and quiet. She soon fell asleep on my lap and this morning after a similarly tough night she woke up and said “hug Mummy hug”. Some times are great even when they are hard.
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The Strength of Women is the Strength of Women
I’ve often looked back on my college career and thought hmm if I’d only taken that course sooner, I’ve have ended up a Women’s Studies major. No not because I’m some sort of feminist lefty and remember I shave my armpits. But because I often liked the discussions, thought problems, and stories that emerged. Plus I’ve always valued the strength of women — not the kind of shoulder pad wearing women of the 80’s strength but the strength that is inherent in the female gender, the kind that comes from our chromosomal make up. I read lots of books where so called women’s issues are at the heart or where there is a strong female protagonist: Above the Earth and Sky: My Journey to Bhutan; Kabul Beauty School; Breath, Eyes, Memory, the biographies of Queen Noor and Abigail Adams; the list could go on and on. I’ve always looked back at the women who came before us with reverence and am currently reading Our Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts.
In the introduction she has a very interesting passage that I think will stick with me for the rest of my days. She writes:
“When I first started learning about the women who influcenced the Founding Fathers, I thoughts they might represent a unique generation, in the way we have always been told that the men of the era were unique……But as I’ve got to know these women…., I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s nothing inuque about them. The did — with great hardship, courage, pluck, prayerfulness, sadness, joy, energy, and humor — what women do. They put one foot in front of the other in remarkable circumstances. They carried on. They truly were our Founding Mothers.”
I’m going to remember the sentiment at the heart of this even if my house might not be on fire with revolutionary soldiers outside and I might have running water and indoor plumbing. I still have a house to run and a family to look after, a husband to enjoy, a job to manage, friends to stay in touch with, and a toddler to wrangle.
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