Mas Vino!

Do you know what this is? It's a whole case of wine, y'all! For my birthday, my parents gave me a gift card to a wine shop back home and I cashed in this past weekend! I was looking forward to trying a myriad of different varietals so I sought the assistance of the wine purveyor in this cellar. And let me tell you, this was a true cellar. John could not stand up straight and there was wine as far as the eye could see. She hooked me up with some of everything and I also chose some local Ohio wines to try as well. I happen to really like Ohio wines although I'm sure a true connoisseur (I had to look up the spelling of that. And I pride myself on being a good speller but I could not figure that one out on my own) might turn their nose up at a Niagara or Catawba. Whatevs. Mama like. So stay tuned for full wine reviews in the coming weeks. John thinks this case will last quite awhile. Silly rabbit.

In other booze news......did you know they make sweet tea flavored vodka?? I discovered this at a tiki bar on vacation. The drink of the day was sweet tea vodka and lemonade. An alcoholic Arnold Palmer! Now, vodka is not my favorite because if I have too much, it gives me a wicked hangover. Moreso than any other alcohol. But this concoction was delightful! Plus I only had 1 1/2 drinks. Not enough to do any real damage. It was very refreshing. John claims he's seen this vodka at our local liquor store. If that's true, I don't know why we've never bought it before. We love us some sweet tea! This is on the shopping list for next time for sure.

Wardrobe Malfunction

Over the next couple months, John and I will be spending multiple weekends back home with family for a myriad of reasons. While we don't love that 3 1/2 hour drive (especially with Sadie sitting on my bladder), we do like seeing family and friends and spending time in our hometown that seems so changed since we left. When we head north, we typically bunk with my in-laws. This is fine except when it comes to pajama time. At home, I just throw on whatever is clean and comfortable. It usually involves some sort of lounge pant and a tank top. Said tank top does not typically have a shelf bra. It's just more comfortable without one, okay? I'm not very well-endowed in that area so I feel like I can get away with it, except in mixed company.

Sitting around the breakfast table with my two teenage bros-in-law and my husband's parents is not really the time to be hanging free. It's also not the time for a low cut tank top for fear of a nip slip (that's right, I said nip slip). "Can you pass me the syrup? And also would you care to see more of my lady parts than you bargained for?" This has not yet happened to me but I'm afraid it will. So, what I'm left with is wearing a t-shirt, which results in some serious free boobin', or a tank top sans shelf bra which may result in a nip slip. Neither choice acceptable.

You can understand the direness of the situation, I'm sure. So, when I was in Florida, I continued my hunt for a non-spaghetti strap tank top with shelf bra. I wanted something cotton, not too tight, and with thicker straps. This, to me, was not a tall order. My mom even said it could be part of my birthday present. You know what that means. Free! But folks, we went absolutely everywhere looking for this very specific top. Much to my chagrin, I was thwarted at every turn. Even a large set of outlet stores could not present this holy grail of PJ. Did you know that they just don't make tank tops with thicker straps and shelf bras? If you know where to get one, PLEASE let me know.

However, we eventually found what both mother and daughter deemed to be a suitably modest top at TJ Maxx. I believe it's probably a yoga top but that means it fits the aforementioned bill. It's a racerback and it's tie-dye, which I wouldn't normally wear (tie dye, not racerback. I love a good racerback tank because I'm pretty into my shoulders these days and a racerback perfectly accentuates them....I digress) but I think it's pretty cute. Well, I put it on tonight after my shower and upon closer inspection, I thought you could see some nip. BLAST! I asked John for a second opinion. He confirmed that the top did not show anything it wasn't supposed to but that the coloring on the tie-dye on the right side is very precariously placed so that it looks like you can indeed see something that takes breakfast from PG to Rated R in a hot second. At least it's comfortable, even if I can only wear it in the comfort of my own home. The search continues..... And fast! Our next trip is for Mother's Day in less than 2 weeks.

Little Bee

I started Little Bee by Chris Cleave before vacation. Not wanting to carry along multiple books, I opted to leave it unfinished (horrors!) at home and return to it upon my return. This book was recommended by a blogging lady who read a book a day for a whole year. Maybe you didn't know, that's 365 books! My paltry numbers (20 so far!) don't hold a candle to that but I figure if you read that much, you must know what you're talking about. That's why you all love my book reviews. Right?

Anyway, Little Bee is the tale of a Nigerian teenage refugee in England. Little Bee is finally able to leave the detention center she's been held at (because she's illegal) for two years. In England, she is in search of a couple she met on the beach at a horrible time in her life. The book is set in 2007, during an oil war in Nigeria where many were massacred. Little Bee is also told by Sarah, the wife in the couple Little Bee met on the beach when they were on holiday in Nigeria. The circumstances of their chance encounter are horrifying and they will be forever beholden to each other because of this tragic event.

I'm sorry that's not much of a synopsis. I was taking a page from the book jacket which has even less of a synopsis than I've just given you. I really enjoyed this book, even though it was filled with sadness and tough topics. Cleave's creation of both Little Bee and Sarah is so thoughtful. If you're looking for a book that is pretty heavy, check out Little Bee.

Didja miss me?

I'm back! I don't really think that deserves an exclamation point though because I'm not very excited about it. Vacation was great and really hard to come home. Especially since it's a gray and rainy day in Ohio and only in the 50's. We had lots of good relaxation time. I didn't get burned and we even saw dolphins on a boat ride.

Watch out yo, this blog is going multi-media. (I hope this works. Sorry if it doesn't.)



That is me whistling. The tour guide told us that dolphins respond to noise so everyone clapped and cheered and it worked! We saw many dolphins. That was really neat. Next time, swimming with them! Not really, just sayin'.

My sundresses were perfect for the trip too. I felt very summery, especially with my matching headband. That was the best part! See? I'm not really that wide on the bottom. The wind was blowing my dress back funny, honest. And I did end up cutting it above my knees but you can't tell.


Let me tell you something about vacation though. It is a total calorie-fest. It's so hard to stay healthy. I did my best but my best was pretty sad. I think I ate my weight in fried fish and desserts. Loves me some fish and chips! John and I have vowed to skip our end of the month weigh in so we don't feel totally derailed. Maybe that's a disservice to ourselves but we make the rules.

We also went to a couple wineries at home with John's parents. That was great fun. More wine posts later this week. Don't worry! So, I hope you're all happy I'm back to blogging.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

If I could figure out how to blog on my iphone, I wouldn't be leaving you. Sadly, I cannot and will be here for the next week. Sunshine and happiness to you all in my absence!

Losing Mum and Pup

Although I didn't think Losing Mum and Pup would be a very uplifting memoir, I am a fan of Christopher Buckley's and so I checked it out from the library anyway. Christopher Buckley's parents passed away within a year of each other. Losing Mum and Pup is the recanting of their illnesses and how the time in between transpired. His father, William F. Buckley, was a major player in the Conservative movement, professor, author, TV host, and loving father. His mother was Patricia Buckley, a New York socialite.

I figured this would be a pretty depressing tale but Buckley, being the humorist that he is, interjects laughs wherever possible not necessarily to get a laugh but because many of the stories recounted about his life, especially his time with his father, are funny. I'm sure there are a lot of people who were already familiar with Pat and William Buckley but I was not. Losing Mum and Pup offered up a real sense of two wonderful people as told by the person who loved them most. This was a pretty quick read but I enjoyed it. I think probably because I enjoy Buckley's writing as it is. If you've never read anything by him, I'd start somewhere else. But, this is worth picking up if you're already a fan.

Oh. baby!

It has come to my attention that I've neglected to write about some very exciting news in my life lately. I say lately but I've known since Thanksgiving that......my sister is pregnant!!! This is her first baby and the first grandchild on lots of sides of the family. One of the reasons I hadn't blogged about it yet is that I was waiting to find out the sex of the baby. I also refrained from purchasing anything baby related until this news came too. This was a difficult feat, to say the least. It didn't stop me from looking but let me tell you, baby stuff is expensive, yo. I always think baby clothes should be $3.00. This is rarely the case. Not that the baby isn't worth it. It's just that I need to be judicious with my selections.

I not so secretly was hoping for a girl. I prefer girls (hello, I am one) and selfishly, I was thinking of all the sewing I could do. How many dresses could I make for this little munchkin? If I were a betting woman, I would have lost. IT'S A BOY!!! Though I wanted a girl, I'm excited for this little guy to make his entrance. He doesn't have a name yet, poor guy. And that yarn that I did buy back in December that I thought was unisex but is pretty decidedly feminine will no longer do. But, this is a Texas baby, y'all. He doesn't need 20 knit blankets. I have it on good authority that there are other family members knitting blankets so I think I'll go a different route. I actually might try my hand at a lightweight quilt. I've never quilted before so we'll see.

I'm having fun researching all of the other things besides dresses that I could make. My sister has requested lots and lots of hats. Preferably that look like animals. Like a hat with bear ears on it. I'm working on those but I just couldn't pass up this fabric on Sunday. It's a stretch cotton and I think would make a cute little hat. I'm not sure if I'm advanced enough at making a sleeper or something out of this. I've never sewn stretch fabrics before. First time for everything right? First baby for B, first stretch fabrics for me. Is that a fair trade?

Anyway, super cute, right? She's not crazy about writing on baby clothes but it's a small print so I think it'll be okay. I hope he likes whatever I come up with!


Baby S. Arriving August 2010......Stay tuned!