Hey! We went on vacation!

I have a new policy of not discussing vacations on the internet until they're over because I'm afraid someone will randomly find my blog and break into my house while I'm gone.

So yeah...totally went on vacation and now I'm back and it sucks. We decided to use my bonus money this year for a vacation for just Paul and I. Ryan stayed with my mom all week. I'm not gonna lie - it was hard. I missed my little guy more than I can describe.

We, as a couple, LOVE cruising. We've been on 4 in the last 5 and a half years. We just really enjoy being able to see several places and experience different cultures with the convenience of having food, transportation, etc all taken care of. This was our first time on Carnival and we really loved it. I was a little leery because I'd heard that it's the less nice cruise line. I'd completely disagree with that. We had such an amazing time. We were on the Carnival Conquest and the absolute first thing I noticed was how friendly the staff was - both with the guests and with each other. They seemed genuinely excited about their jobs and like they really enjoyed one another's company. I can't speak highly enough of our room steward, Sohenri. He really made our vacation special.




Our first stop was in Nassau, Bahamas. I think our biggest mistake here was not going to Paradise Island. We aren't big on excursions. We're more of a do your own thing - make your own adventure type of people. So we decided to just wing it. It was just okay. The only neat thing we found was a hidden garden overflowing with flowering trees, so we stopped for a minute and rested. We were there on a Wednesday and it seemed like everything was closed. Coupled with the unbearable humidity, we walked around for a few hours and then gave up and went back to the ship.

Our second stop was in Freeport, Bahamas. It's deceiving because the port is in a very industrial area and you have to take a 20 minute taxi ride to get anywhere desirable. We stepped up and got ourselves a taxi. At first it seemed like the $15 per person cab fare was outrageous but after a 20 minute ride to the beach, then a separate 10 minute ride to Port Lucaya Marketplace and then yet another 15 minute ride back to the ship, we thought it was fair. Plus, gas is over $5 a gallon there! We spent a good amount of time there and liked it.


Our third, and final stop was Key West, FL. We LOVED it. Loved is an understatement. We felt it was by far, the absolute best out of the three. I have a good friend who visits Key West at least once a year so I hit him up for some recommendations. Since it's such a small island, we decided to walk everywhere we went. Which wasn't so bad at first. Then my feet started protesting. We walked the length of the island, down Duval Street to the southernmost point. We went to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. It was so beautiful. I have tons of gorgeous pictures of butterflies and birds. We took some pictures and then stopped for an iced tea. Then we found Sarabeth's and had brunch. After brunch, we walked down a residential street to Kermit's Key Lime Shoppe and got a chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick. They had a beautiful pond filled with koi and a quarter buys you fish food and an awesome show.

After our fun day in Key West, we decided that we'd like to go on a family vacation to Key West. So we're thinking of doing that possibly next April.

Coming back to reality after being on vacation sucks, but, we've been home for a week now and I'm just glad things are getting back to normal!

Look Who's One!

This time last year, I was sitting in my bed, much like I am at this moment, thinking about how my life would change within the next 24 hours. I couldn't have imagined how. I look back over the last year and reflect on not only how my life has changed, but how I've changed and how Ryan's changed.

Oddly enough, the trip to the hospital and the resulting cesarean weren't as scary as bringing that tiny baby home. That tiny baby who was brand new and couldn't do a thing except be loved is now a toddler. A toddling toddler who is into everything and is a busy bee.

We had his first birthday party on Saturday. All the stress and prep work was totally worth it. We had a baseball theme and it was awesome! I was just amazed at the number of people who showed up to celebrate my little boy's special day. Here are a few shots of our fun day.

Time.

It's May 1st. 2011.

How is it possible that it's been nearly a year since my baby was born? This time last year I was in my final days at work preparing for maternity leave and at home for Ryan's arrival. My last day at work was May 4th and I spent the following 5 days waiting. On the 6th day, he came.

Anyways, I'm in awe that it's been nearly two years since we first decided to have a baby. I personally believe your life changes then, not when your baby is born. You decide to change your lifestyle, quitting all things wonderful (booze...diet coke...sushi..coffee) for as long as it takes. You decide to share your body with another human. Of course, your life doesn't REALLY change drastically until you're holding your precious infant in your arms and the weight of the world firmly plants itself on your shoulders for the rest of your life.

I'm rambling. Ryan amazes me every single day. He's been sort of walking for quite some time, since about mid-March...but he'd really only walk from one person to another and only very short distances. Well, he decided on Friday that he was going to walk, and walk he did. He hasn't stopped since. It just amazes me that 8 months ago he was just starting to sit up and in the last year, he's gone from basically being totally helpless to sitting, standing, walking, feeding himself...he's a tiny person who can do everything I can do (almost). I'm so proud every time he toddles across our living room, or looks at me with all seriousness and says, "ah da gur mah ba". Here's a video of my little toddler (no longer a baby):



In other news...I just finished reading Water for Elephants. I think there's a movie out with the same title, based on the book. I casually picked this up (ok, downloaded onto my nook) last week and finished it within a few days. Overall, nice story and kept me reading but I wasn't absolutely blown away. I'm starting The Hunger Games series tonight and hope to hang onto those through the next 3 weeks. Hopefully they're as good as everyone says they are.

Fun Friday

I took yesterday off of work. First time in several months and I lived it up! I got up with Ryan and Paul at the lovely time of 6 AM, dropped Ryan with my mom at 7 and my day of fun began! I swung by my all time favorite donut shop, Shipley's and got a blueberry cake and a chocolate filled donut. I went home, sipped my coffee and ate my donuts. Then I started on the things I needed to get gone. I started the laundry, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, washed bottles, and showered. Then I went grocery shopping. And then the things I absolutely had to get done were all done. Then I went to Macy's!

Now, I haven't always been a Macy's fan. While living in Chicago, Macy's bought out the famed Marshall Fields and every good Chicagoan is trained to hate Macy's. Even after I moved here, I couldn't see the appeal. The Macy's nearest me had poor selection and I never could find the awesome deals that my step mom always got. However, recently, I've become a total Macy's addict. A couple weeks ago, I made the drive (10 minutes futher...it's not some trek or anything) to The Good Macy's. I had forgotten that I had a merchandise credit gift card. I was like freaking Mary Tyler Moore. I just wanted to throw my proverbial hat in the air. I bought a pair of work pants, a necklace, and a handbag and spent $2 out of my own pocket. So yesterday I decided to head to the crappy Macy's close by my house because it was the one day sale and I had a $10 off coupon to use if I spent $25 (surely I'd spend $25).

I initially went to look for some Stride Rites for Ryan, but when I quickly figured out that this crappy Macy's doesn't carry shoes, I moved on to the women's department. There I found lots of awesome stuff. I picked out a pair of Levi's Boyfriend Jeans, a pair of Inc black skinny jeans and a nice pair of pinstriped pants for work. I had also decided that it was high time that I got a Macy's card since I was becoming a regular shopper there and they have mad coupons for their card members. Anyways, as the lady is ringing me up, she is gasping and saying what a great deal I got. I guessed so..I mean, I didn't think it was anything to write home about. And then she tells me my total is $20. $20?!!! What?! I looked and I paid 1/10th of the regular full price for each item. Seriously...those Levi Boyfriend Jeans? I paid $4.80! FOR A PAIR OF LEVI'S! Hell, for any pair of jeans, no matter what brand, that's a great deal. The Inc jeans were $7.90. I'm excited about those because I do recall looking at that exact pair of pants a few months ago and walking away in horror from the $79 price tag. Anyways, I love Macy's. I love how it smells. I love their awesome deals. I just like how it makes me feel when I walk into their store. Their employees are so nice and helpful and I know it sounds crazy, but shopping there reminds me of a department store I went to once in Paris. I bought a pair of shoes there. I just love Macy's.

After Macy's, I headed over to Ross where I bought a pair of super cute black sandals with silver accents. Then I went to the Cuban bakery where I bought Cuban bread and guava and cream cheese pastries. I came home, made a sandwich, and rested. Then I went and got my hair done.

Now...I'm cheap. Honestly. I'll say it. I don't like to spend money on things that aren't important to me. My hair is one of those things. The last time I got my hair cut, I liked the cut but hated the stylist. I've never found the one person who can cut my hair and is affordable that I love. So back to The Paul Mitchell School I went. Their services are all done by students but they're supervised and it's affordable. My appointment was at 2. The sweet girl who ended up with me was named Morgan and she was nice and very patient and while she had to ask quite a few questions, she did an excellent job. So good, in fact, that I'm going back in 7 weeks. My hair was a hot mess. I hadn't had it cut in at least 6 months. The last time I had colored it was from a box in my mom's kitchen. She sat me down and we picked out a lighter, summery color and cut. Here is the before:


Not terrible...just ratty and with no shape. I got what's known as a swing bob. It's longer than a bob and the back is shorter than the front. Here is the after:


Since it was at a school and since I opted to get a special color stripping treatment on my hair, I was there for 3 hours. I love The Paul Mitchell School, though. The people there are all just so...hip. And nice. And they genuinely love hair. And they better for what it costs to go there. After I got out of there, I picked Paul up and we went out to dinner. It was just at BJ's and we had a great time just the two of us.

It was what I'd describe as the perfect day off work. I shopped, got awesome deals, got my hair done, and had dinner with my best friend. Today was another great day too, but that's another story..

Six Word Stories

Inspired by Jen Lancaster over at Jennsylvania. Here are a few of mine:

Hearing "mama" melts my heart every time.

Forgotten Gift Card yields awesome deals.

Mexican for lunch produces gassy results.

Getting tired of yogurt for breakfast.

How many more days until vacation?

Regrets

The question was posed:

Which do you regret more? The things you've done or the things you haven't done?

For me, it's the things I've done. The choices I've made. There's still time for the things I haven't done, but I can't undo the things that I have done.

I think I've questioned more decisions I've made in the last 10.5 months than I have in the entirety of my life. None moreso than the details surrounding the birth of my son. Looking through pictures today, I came upon this one:
Disregard disgusting arm stretch marks. The picture brought tears to my eyes. I think it was one, if not the first, time I got to hold my baby. And the look on his face. It's as if he's saying, "where have you been? what took you so long?". I didn't get to see him for quite some time. At the time, it didn't seem weird to me. I didn't know. And I take some comfort in my ignorance at the time.

But that face. He was waiting to see me, too. I was the only person he knew in the whole wide world and I wasn't there. He was alone in a bed with people poking and prodding him and I wasn't there.

That is what I regret.

I know he's fine now. I don't think our bond was permanently damaged. But it still hurts.

Baby Mama

So I'm sitting here watching Baby Mama with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. How have I not watched this before?! As interested in surrogacy as I am, you'd think I'd have seen this, So far, 20 minutes in - thumbs up.

Things are going well. Last weigh in, I lost another .5 lb. That brings my total to 11.5 lbs. Since I met my first weight loss goal, I got my first reward - $50 to spend however I wish. I chose to get a fancy manicure with a new polish called Shellac. It allegedly lasts two weeks. I've had it about 48 hours and so far, no chipping. It actually cost $45, which is pricey for a manicure. But so far, I love my flashy red nails.

Anyways, nothing new is going on. Work is crazy. It's almost over, and I keep telling myself that in only a few more weeks, Peak will be over and we'll all be in the money. Plus, baseball season starts soon and in 2 months - I'll be on vacation! As for now, just getting ready for the next consignment sale. It'll be my first time participating as a consignor. I didn't realize I had so much crap to get rid of! And none of it is clothes. So I'll be dropping that off next Thursday and get to shop next Friday! woo hoo!

Otherwise, we're quietly going about life, each day passing like the one before.