I got off my posting schedule...

You may not even have realized that I'd set a posting schedule up for myself, now that I think about it. I was trying to discipline myself a bit more and whatnot, so a few weeks ago, I made myself a schedule to follow. I did well for several weeks there and then fell off just a tad. Oops. In my defense, since I'm not a professional blogger, I let a few little things like traveling and visiting with family/friends and forgetting my camera and getting a cold get in the way of posting. My apologies.

As a recap, here are some things we've been up to this week:
1. Making new friends with the Jesuit community in Brighton (I really should do a separate post about this sometime.)
2. Traveling South (yay!) and getting to use the metal detector in the airport, rather than the radiation machine.
3. Baby shower for Claire! So much fun and such a neat blessing. 
4. Eating some of our favorite Southern meals (you know this is big for us).
5. Opening/giving some early Christmas presents.
6. Spending time with family. 
7. I caught the cold that Brad had during his last week of finals. Boo. Thankfully, it set in after the baby shower, so that I was able to go and visit all the friends who attended. I hadn't seen some of them in so long.
8. Planning our next phases of Christmas travel. We've got quite the schedule!

Hopefully, several of these things will have their own blog posts in the near future. That's the plan anyway. And, Amiee and I will be wrapping up our clothing challenge in the next two weeks, so we'll definitely be posting about that. We're a little sad, I have to say.

I hope everyone is having a lovely week-before-Christmas. 

The Knight in Shiny Earrings

I obviously didn't have a great title for this one... I was definitely reaching.

I've discovered that the majority of the pieces in my maternity wardrobe are of the black/white/gray/red/camel color variety. Surprisingly, I haven't really tired of much of it (minus the two pairs of pants that I rotate between). So, engineering what characters I can pull off is limited to what character boards I can find that fit into that color palate. I realize that makes it a little less interesting, but I've got to work with what I have, right?

I found this board just recently and realized how easily I could pull it off. I wore it to the hospital today for my rhogam injection (incidentally, we were gone from home for 3 hours for this little injection. Oi. Upside: the nurse that administered it reminded us of our friend's mom, which was fun.). Unfortunately, it was just Brad and me that could appreciate my effort.

Here goes:

I know; it's not terribly ornate, but come on...I'm a little limited. And, my internal temperature is ridiculously high these days, restricting the clothing I can wear. 

Here's my goal:

Prince Phillip. The dragon-slayer.

Character: Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty

Outfit:
*Black cami (maternity) from Old Navy this year.
*Sweater was a hand-me-down from my great-grandmother. I'm going vintage, y'all.
*Shiny earrings ("iron-clad"...much like a sword that would be wielded by a dashing prince. That works, right?)

Disneybound inspiration board:

I think I got pretty close. Boring, though it may be. :) Just a few more weeks to go with this year's challenge. Maybe- just maybe- we'll have another year's worth of challenge up our sleeves. We'll just have to see.

Images from here and here.

"OMG! Are you serious??"

Not the words you want to hear from the phlebotomist who has a needle stuck in your arm, right?

I had my glucose test last Friday. I'm one of those pregnant gals who a) still combats fierce nausea daily (despite the fact that I'm third trimester) and b) needs a light snack every hour-and-a-half to two hours in order to help keep the nausea in check (in addition to my anti-nausea medicine). So, having to fast prior to my glucose test was fairly torturous. Brad was a sweetheart and ordered a taxi so that I wouldn't have to ride on the train (Karen, Kat, and Breanne- back me up: that will make you nauseous even if you're not already feeling sick!), and we made sure to get there a few minutes before the lab opened so that we could be first in line. This lab doesn't really take appointments; you just show up, and it's first come, first served. Drat us...we were second in line. Overachievers.

When it was my turn, the lab tech started out by taking my pre-glucose sample, and I thought it was a little much to take four vials. Apparently, her supervisor agreed. This was the conversation that ensued (while the tourniquet was still tightly in place and the needle was in my arm):

Supervisor: "Did you just take four vials?"

Lab tech: "Yeah...was I not supposed to?" (um, that's not comforting...)

Supervisor: "No. She's here for a glucose test. You only need two." pauses...reads vial labels. "And, you used up all of the vials for her whole test."

LT: "OMG! Are you serious??"

Supervisor: "Yeah."

So, there I sat. Taking great comfort from the fact that the lab tech a) did not know what was going on and b) felt the need to have this full, very informal discussion right in front of me. I'm assuming they got everything worked out after that. I drank my gross glucose drink and felt even worse than I already did. We waited for an hour for my second blood test and then waited for another hour for the last one. Brad did homework. I tried to do things on my Kindle...but mostly just felt lousy and pitiful.

During the third blood test, I thought my arm was going to fall off from the pressure of the tourniquet while she thumped all over my arm to find a different vein. I may or may not have had little tiny tears well up because of that tourniquet...

Thankfully, it was finally over and we were able to go home. Even better was that I passed my glucose test, meaning I don't have gestational diabetes AND don't have to do the glucose test again. I'm probably equally happy about those two results. :)

The Day I Met My Favorite Bloggers.

Yes, you read that title correctly. Go ahead and call me a nerd. I know it's true.

My favorite blog is Young House Love. I read it every day (in fact, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, I check it twice a day because they do a morning AND an afternoon post. See how much of a fan I am?). It's a home improvement/do-it-yourself/life kind of blog, and I really enjoy it. I've been reading it for about 2 years, but I've actually gone back and read every post. Not all at one time...that would be crazy! I thoroughly enjoy their writing styles (it's a husband and wife team, and they're both very talented) and their content. 

Anyway, they recently published a book (!), and a few months ago, they posted about their book tour/signing schedule. Boston was on the list! I immediately begged Brad to go with me (he agreed), and we put it on the calendar. 

I was so excited. Counted down the weeks. Brad wasn't as intrinsically excited, but he was excited that I was excited.

The day of the book signing was supposed to be rainy all day. No big deal. It was dreary and overcast all morning and drizzled a little bit. By the afternoon, when I headed up to BC with Brad, it was flurrying. The forecast had most certainly not predicted that it would be cold enough for snow, but I didn't think too much of it; the ground was too wet for anything to stick. I had, thankfully, worn my heavy coat. Unfortunately, I passed quite a few BC students who had prepped for rain (lighter clothes, rain boots, umbrellas) rather than the strange wintry weather coming in.

By late afternoon, it was full-on snowing, and we discovered that a Nor'easter was blowing in. In a matter of hours, the soggy ground had completely frozen over, and the snow (that was coming down in earnest) was definitely collecting. By the time we left for the book signing, we were both wearing heavy coats with hood PLUS our hats under the hoods. It. was. cold.

We got to the book signing a little before 6:00 (official start time) and found ourselves at the back of a VERY long line. To cut to the chase, the supposed-to-be-2-hour-signing had us moseying up to get my book signed 3 hours after we got there. That's dedication. We got buddy-buddy with the people in line with us. One gal even took this picture for us:

The event was held at our local West Elm, and all of the West Elms that hosted YHL book signings served hot chocolate and cookies at their events. Also, do you see the snow on Brad's collar??

We got to chat briefly with John and Sherry, which was so fun. I even got congratulated on the whole being pregnant thing. They also asked if it was a boy or girl; Sherry was guessing boy based on "how I'm carrying her." Not sure what that means, though, because a few weeks later, one of our flight attendants said the same thing- only that she knew it was a girl. 

Anyway, I had a great time, and Brad got some reading for class done while we were in line. By the time we got home, this is what our apartment door looked like. Crazy.

The snow all melted the next day, and it hasn't been that cold since. And, I'll be getting an autographed YHL book for Christmas. Thanks, Santa. This is why living in Boston is cool.

The Witch Doctor Challenge

I'm once again venturing into the realm of Challenge 2012: Maternity Edition. I put this outfit together the other night before going to our neighborhood group from church, but I actually ended up tweaking it a bit before leaving the house. The outfit in the picture made me look rounder than I really wanted to, so I changed a few things and ended up looking more my actual size. Vanity...I know. I just didn't want to look last stages pregnant when I'm only 6 months (I realize that's hyperbole). I'm awful.

My character this week was:

Rafiki. I sort of accidentally ended up with a Lion King theme running through the last few outfits. Apparently they work best for maternity outfits? 

Character: Rafiki from The Lion King

Outfit:
*White cami from Old Navy (maternity).
*Gray sweater from Belk (maternity).
*Gold belt from NY & Co. 2010.
*Red earrings from Ukraine 2009.
*African beaded necklace gift from parents after trip to Rwanda a couple years ago.

Disneybound inspiration board:

So far, so good on the maternity challenge pictures. I only have to come up with a few more. I'm feeling confident. Just out of curiosity...any of you that have seen all of the challenge outfits this year, any favorites? Amiee and I are getting a tad bit nostalgic now that we're nearing the end, and I was wondering if our favorites are similar to yours. By the way, Amiee's going to play catch-up on updating her blog...once she finishes finals. Go, Amiee! Ace those tests!

Images from here and here.

On the problem of baby gear and living in a city.

I'm having Baby Culture Shock. Or, more accurately, Baby Stuff Culture Shock. There is so much out there for little wee ones. Annnnnd...I'm struggling to narrow it down. I think I might have written back in the summer about how Brad and I were trying to be very intentional about what we were packing for Boston and what we would be storing. This was an incredibly crucial element in our move- primarily because we now live in an apartment, and we walk or take public transportation everywhere. These two things combined really bring out the minimalist in you. 

Don't get me wrong: we are very blessed with our apartment and have a nice amount of storage space. We don't, however, have an attic, garage, or basement storage available, which means that we have to get creative with where to stash stuff. Stuff like the boxes our appliances came in, which aren't really vital to our lives at the moment but will be when we move again. Or our Christmas decor and out-of-season clothing. Our "spare room" is very multi-purposed. It's our "office" and extra storage and guest room and future baby room. It's not terribly big, AND there's a weight-bearing brick column right in the middle of the room. And a built-in desk (which is awesome but does limit room arrangement possibilities).

All that to say that we're having to be, yet again, incredibly intentional about what baby gear we plan to acquire. The great lure of the Baby Gear Industry is all of the cute stuff. The pink and ruffly and soft and adorable stuff. It calls to me and threatens to fog my rationality. I've been fairly disciplined in not giving into those Sirens. Rather, I've spent countless hours (no, really) researching and evaluating the best options for the necessities. Things that are practical and necessary and fit in our budget. Things that are Boston- and apartment-friendly. Things that have good safety ratings and customer reviews. It's way more intense than I would have thought.

Some of our thoughts/decisions/quandaries:

1. We made the decision (after crunching the numbers) to try our hands at cloth diapering. We calculated average costs of disposables versus what we'd pay in laundry (which we pay for with quarters...gag) over the remainder of the time that we'll probably live in this apartment. Cloth diapers won. Not for environmental reasons nearly so much as practical reasons. We decided on this brand (after researching sessions that made me want to rip out my hair). Seriously...this was the very first thing we decided on. Diapers. How precious.

2. We're planning to get a mini-crib. Why? Because a regular sized one won't fit anywhere in our apartment. Not exaggerating. The crib does have a rocking feature, though, which is awesome.

3. We're going to need to forego some other items marketed as "essentials" by the Target and Amazon registries, like a changing table. We just don't have room for one. We're definitely going to be the type that have those changing pads scattered around the apartment. 

4. The stroller search is enough to give me a migraine. We need something compact for use on the trains. That's pretty much non-negotiable. We can't really do the awesome systems that are the way to go in the South (you know, the Cadillac strollers with the snap-in baby carrier?). Wistful sigh. We're planning on using one of the strap-on baby carriers. It's what people do here...and is seemingly the only practical solution. I've seen exactly one woman with a traditional baby carrier; she looked like she was about to collapse carrying it.

5. Claire isn't going to have an awesomely Pinterest-ed out nursery. We'll make it as cute as we can, but function is definitely the priority and will take a lot of creativity to manufacture. The good things, though, is that we can attach things to the upholstered walls (remember how it's a soundproof room?) with push pins. That's kind of fun.

6. We don't have much room for baby items like swings or bouncy seats. I've looked into some travel swing options, which have a smallish footprint. Jury is still out on that (speaking of juries, I got jury summons for less than 3 weeks before my due date. What are the odds??).

Anyway, those are some of the scenarios that we're working with. We're also starting to think through where we will store things like the stroller. There's not exactly a natural spot for it. I'll keep you posted. I know you'll be waiting with baited breath.

Brad's Observations on Bostonian (student) Fashion

I wish I could get Brad to guest post on this, but 1) he is way too busy writing about people and concepts that are beyond me and 2) he probably wouldn't anyway.

We had been here for a couple of months before I felt well enough to venture out of the house (outside of a few doctor's appointments). I had this one week where I felt fairly decent (and actually thought I'd turned a health corner...ha. Silly me.), and I knew that Brad had been wanting to go do something together. Poor guy...we're in one of the coolest cities in the country, and he hadn't been able to get out and do anything with his built-in friend (that would be me). So, we went up the road to a little Mexican restaurant for dinner (Huntsvillians: it looks and operates like Little Rosie's...but it's, by no means, the same thing. It is fairly decent food, though.). After dinner, we went for a little walk around Boston College, because I still had not been up to campus at that point.

BC is beautiful. Truly. It's a lovely campus and makes you feel as if you would have been a smarter student had you been able to study in that environment. We really enjoyed walking around and just looking. 

Then, I started noticing how not dressy the girls looked. I don't know why, but I just kind of assumed that girls at a super fancy school would dress up a bit more. I mentioned to Brad that I was a little surprised by the sartorial choices. He surprised me by readily agreeing and giving me a run-down of what he had decided was "the outfit" worn by college girls in Boston:

*Black leggings instead of pants (and more than a few of them really shouldn't be wearing skin-tight bottoms.
*Classy mid-calf to knee-height boots. Usually brown.
*Generally a t-shirt.

I stopped and watched the girls who were passing by us. Whoa...Brad was right. 75% of the girls we saw were wearing "the outfit." Who would have thought?

Since then, I've noticed "the outfit" is prevalent at Boston University and Harvard, as well. As it starts to get colder, we keep wondering when "the outfit" will modify to adjust to the temperatures. So far...they've added scarves.

I'm still not going to discuss politics...

...but I don't mind discussing social gatherings. Hopefully, this post won't bring up any bad feelings or memories but will just have you saying, "Wow...Boston is cool."

I know that I've mentioned our friend, Karl, a few times. We know him from Union, and we ended up moving here around the same time this summer. Karl's job was working in the media department of the Romney/Ryan campaign. It was super interesting to hear things about Karl's job and all of the interesting people he met and the history he saw being made. He got to meet both Romney and Ryan (among others) and do quite a bit of traveling. I'm fully convinced that- no matter what side of the political fence you find yourself- Karl had a once-in-a-lifetime experience that was, admittedly, cool. 

And, he shared a taddy bit of it with Brad and me. Karl, as an employee, was given guest passes to the election night party at the Romney headquarters- which he gave to us! We got dressed up and spent the evening at a fancy convention center, watching the states fill in while we snacked on catered hor d'oeuvres. Granted, we weren't important enough to gain access to the actual center of events; we hung out in the overflow room, but we're not complaining. Brad was even interviewed by the Yale Daily News. And, no, his interviewer was not Rory Gilmore. Bummer.

We didn't stick around until the very end; I wasn't feeling well (which had less to do with the election and quite a bit to do with being pregnant), so we headed out around 10:00 and watched the remainder of results at home. 

Outside of the convention center. It was so glitzy and festive.

When we got off the shuttle bus that took us from the offices to the convention center, there were literally paparazzi-type folks sticking cameras in everyone's faces and snapping away. Right after I took this picture, I noticed Brad turning away from a few cameras. Bizarre.

Karl snapped this picture for us right before he went off to do very important work.

We really did enjoy our opportunity and are so grateful that Karl let us join him. We'll continue to pray for our president to have wisdom as he leads our country, whether or not we support all his decisions. And, as Brad told the Yale Daily News reporter who asked what his reaction would be if Romney lost the election, "We'll get up tomorrow, do our work, and live our lives- just like we did this morning."

Also...we miss having Karl in town. He's a fun one.