preggo week's latest member ...

we knew something you didn't know!

preggo together!!

congratulations holly!!

and holly, since next week is preggo week, we're expecting lots of preggy posts!

next week = preggo week!

that was me last night when i did the jp morgan chase corporate challenge

I have pretty much neglected the subject of pregnancy as its own topic for the past two months or more, slipping it in only as other events may have related to it. I was swamped at work for awhile, then incredibly distracted by family matters, and oh, I wanted to document Leslie's Bachelorette Party, and then the [entire] California trip ... Which was totally related, right, since Les threw me a surprise shower in the middle of wedding festivities? And it seems the photos from leslie’s wedding quenched requests for preggo pics. But I confess that I’ve still been taking belly pics, and they’ve been back-piling over here.

While in California, miss Lauren asked me a simple question, “Are you excited?” A lot of people have been asking me that question, in fact. Or sometimes, “Are you nervous?” To tell you the truth, neither of those is really the first that comes to mind when I think about the baby, and I don’t even know what my answer actually is!?!

Even though I don’t know the answer, and maybe haven’t done any conscious introspection exercises, I sure do think about being pregnant about all the time these days (well, almost all the time: sometimes I look down at my tummy and forget for a second what’s going on, when a flood of realization washes over me and I recognize that I’ve actually forgotten for a moment that I’m ... pregnant!). And maybe since I haven't yet really made the connection to how the next step means that Patrick and I will become parents, it explains why I don’t have answers for the pressing questions at hand. At any rate, I’m declaring next week Preggo Week, devoted to catching up on weeks (and weeks) of the pregnancy journey.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekends!

the small tea for the lark-to-be!

These are photos from the very talented Tara
(the Chicago Tara, not the also very talented Sacramento Tara)...

our hostess tina set a drop dead gorgeous table! wow!

and on the menu, latkes with apple sauce and sour cream, yogurt with granola (key to my heart), fruit, bagels and cream cheese, PLUS she whipped up a scrumptious turkey sausage fritatta! oh and there were cookies, muffins, and biscotti.  and then she wondered if it was enough, and said she could make some mini quiches! plus natalie made an amazing coffee cake.  just so you know, i sampled EVERYTHING. truly lovely!

that is little miss eloise (yes, i love her name!) -- and she is just one of the ladies!

i will ignore my face and take comfort in the fact that tara softened the colors here and so you can't really see the huge puffs under my eyes!  i was so completely into dousing my latkes that i didn't even notice tara taking this photo.

and i guess it's true, the babies love sophie the giraffe!

(holly got one for baby larkin & it's so cute, i can't wait til she starts gnawing on it! curious about sophie? this 2009 article popped up when i was on latimes.com: http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-sophie3-2009oct03,0,2251259.story)

it was definitely very fun and special to celebrate baby lark-to-be and i have a few more photos of the details from my phone to share once i send them to myself... as you all know, i myself love having people over and entertaining, but i told these girls, between brunch at tara's and now this tea at tina's, i don't think i can EVER have them over!!

so confused ... but you all are GENIUSES!!

THANKS FOR FIGURING THIS OUT EVERYONE!! umm, duh, why didn't i think of that!?

weird, i had a post for today, sunday 5/23 ... and i know it went live because i had 2 comments come in for it. but now it's gone! it's not live and it's not even saved in draft form. has this ever happened to anyone else? in three years, it's never happened to me!

it was about a very darling invitation i received. i'll rewrite it -- but, annoying ...

a small tea!!!

after i wrapped up the california trip, i came home for a few days, then turned right back around and took off for oregon. i just got back from oregon during the week, and this is the first weekend i have been home now in a MONTH.  it feels so good to be able to take care of a few things around the house!  i am sooo dreadfully behind on many, many things.  but this weekend isn't ALL chores...

for sunday,
look look at this.

look at this.

look at this!!

is this NOT the most stinkin' perfect invitation you ever saw?

tina from brunch club made these puppies!

she said she wanted to incorporate running somehow

(hence the finish line) --

and i just think they're perfect!

cutest thing ever.

i might have to get this framed!

(for lark-to-be's room!)

it says the 13th on the invitation, but tea is today, the 23rd.

enjoy your sunday, too!

california babymoon: saturday continued, and into sunday

these cuties are emily's two kids!!

this is evan

and this is maddy

emily lives about two and half minutes from my dad and i haven't even been home since evan was born!  he is super cute, fiairly shy and quite the observant one.  on the other hand, maddy ran non-stop around the house in a sing-songy fashion the entire time i was visiting!  she's got such a personality.  of course she wanted nothing to do with me once she was allowed to turn on the hose!  it wasn't a very long visit, but i'm so glad i was able to see emily and her family for a little bit while i was home.

i also got to see maggie!  maggie arrived into our home as a puppy 15 years ago.  i taught her one trick, "go away!" but proceeded to love the happy little pup.  once my dad started traveling a lot for work, our friend virginia offered up a more 'stable' home to our aging, deaf maggie.  so maggie now lives with virginia and she is just as happy as can be!

-- picture to come --

finally sunday came.  it was time to go home.  it was mother's day and dad and i went to plum's cafe!  i went here with my dad and my nana on mother's day 6 years ago, when i was home for my mother's funeral - but don't get me wrong, it wasn't a sad thing.  it was delicious and fun!  plum's cafe is an old fave (and i've been here now and again since that previous mother's day brunch),  and it was nice to celebrate as an almost-a-mother's-day! 

california babymoon: reconnecting, farmers' market, and kids

saturday was busy running around ...

one of my oldest friends from elementary school had asked if i wanted to meet up while i was in california.  i last saw her at our reunion in 2007, and we had met up YEARS before that once --- i think it was probably circa 2002 or so --- and before that probably hadn't seen each other since high school.  our parents were really close with each other growing up, but life took us all in different directions pretty much just before high school.

we were also going to meet up with another girl from high school, whom i hadn't seen in years, but she actually went into LABOR just a few hours before brunch. she facebooked us at about 7am that morning to let us know her water had broke and she was at the hospital.  (if she didn't want to have brunch with us, she could have just said so!).

meghan & myles (7 weeks!!!!)

megs is a total natural!

and brunch was fab!

after brunch we walked over to the irvine farmers' market.  i had so much fun walking around with meghan and was very excited to find out that she has a yard with her new house!

meghan picked out a new hydrangea!!

and she even found some worms for the compost pile she and her husband had just started!! these worms are bred to compost, so she really bought the best of the best here, folks.

it was great to treat megs to a little early mother's day brunch and can you believe, she brought a gift for baby girl larkin? she totally showed me up!! what a sweetheart. it was really fun hanging out with her!

... saturday to be continued ...

california babymoon: the mission

...continued from previous post...

after touring casa wucetich, courtney and alex drove me back to san juan capistrano. alex fell asleep in the car, and i said my goodbyes.  then i had some time to walk around the mission before catching a train back to irvine. this was a perfect pregnant lady activity.

 

 

california babymoon: san clemente & mission san juan capistrano

i set aside friday to walk around mission san juan capistrano.  courtney had the lovely suggestion that we meet for lunch in san clemente first.  very conveniently, there is a train that runs right from irvine to the san clemente pier! very inconveniently, that route is only open on the weekends.  but courtney offered to swoop me up from the san juan capistrano stop and take me to lunch on the pier anyway!

mama and alex in the shade - alex watches the surfers

 

yep, he's two alright!

that is surfer hair!

i was also able to gain a sneak peak of their gorgeous new home!!

i got the grand tour, but only have exterior pics to share:

that is a balcony off the master bathroom!

and under the covering in the backyard, there is a fantastic outdoor fireplace (my fave!) and a fantastic bar!

and around the corner, a pool and jacuzzi.

i requested that she host a pre-reunion party next may for all the scrippsies!

...will post about the mission in next post...

(i am trying to get all my california posts up before the weekend!)

california babymoon: the ace.

thursday continued.  after spa-ing, i was just not in the mood to get back in the car and drive home.  so i scoured expedia for a last-minute "can't pass it up" rate to stay somewhere in town one more night.  enter ace hotel. 

------
note about the ace:
les and i went there for dinner last year but after pulling up, completely decided against eating there!  i'd had a great experience at the ace in portland the winter before, which has an awesome restaurant.  but when we rolled up in our cute dresses to eat at what turns out to be a converted diner (literally a denny's in it's prior life!!), the palm springs ace just wasn't what we were exactly expecting. or looking for. like at all. 

the ace palm springs' restaurant, kings highway, looks like this:

from flickr.
not what we had in mind for a dressy night out.
but little did i know, the food = local mmmmm.

"In the bones of an old roadside diner, we're reinterpreting American peasant food for the desert with a focus on fresh, organic, and local ingredients."

for reference: clyde common (portland)

"It's right off our lobby but it's sure not a hotel restaurant. Long communal tables, an open kitchen serving hearty peasant food and an inspired bar with an expansive list of spirits. A favorite hangout for locals."

so while i had memories of a winter stay in portland dancing in my head when les and i checked out the ace palm springs last year ... this time around, i knew exactly what to expect:;  and i thought it the perfect bargain to spend an extra afternoon and evening in the desert.

portland vs. palm springs:

-----------------

p.s. when i got back to irvine, my dad said he had JUST read an article about the ace palm springs in Sunset magazine.  do any of you living in california read sunset?  i love that magazine!!  if you don't read it, please check it out!  it makes me want to live on the west coast again!

california babymoon: how to plan a trip around pancakes

how to plan a trip around pancakes
1. recall the most delicious [lemon ricotta] pancakes you've ever tasted
2. book hotel near these most delicious [lemon ricotta] pancakes you've ever tasted
3. get friend to throw herself a wedding so you have a 'reason' to purchase airfare across country and conveniently within 100 miles of said [lemon ricotta] pancakes
4. attend wedding - preferably as a bridesmaid - to throw off anyone suspicious that the whole thing might actually be a scheme for [lemon ricotta] pancakes
5. after throwing everyone off your track, travel to final destination, go to sleep, and wake-up to most delicious [lemon ricotta] pancakes

i woke up thursday to a glorious morning in palm springs. after a disappointing work out, i was ready for lemon ricotta pancakes!!  les and i had these last year at the parker and they were incredible.

yet as i sat down to breakfast ready to order, i saw the waitress carry a plate of waffles past me ... next time, how to plan a trip around raspberry waffles topped with blueberries and bruleed bananas!!!

this image from flickr doesn't even come close to depicting the delicious waffles i had!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SIDEBAR: to help with this new waffle craving, i am now the proud owner of a sunbeam model W-2-A waffle iron from the late 1940's!  i have been in oregon since friday, for my nana's memorial service which was yesterday, and we happened upon her waffle recipe. turns out she still had her old waffle iron in the house (the cord might not be in the best condition - crossing fingers it still works), which is now coming home with me to chicago. come on over for marge's waffles at the little loft!!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

after waffles, it was spa time ... ah.  my first pre-natal massage!  i sure felt like a lucky girl - there will be no budget for massages once baby girl larkin is here!  after the massage, i spent a good amount of time in the relaxation room, swam indoors in some kind of chlorine free pool, then sat outside on the back patio snacking on dried fruit.  the indoor pool was perfect for a pregnant lady!  i got all of the warm desert air from outside, without having to worry about overheating from the sun!  i loved it!

california babymoon: the parker

on wednesday of the babymoon, i headed to the desert. 
a recent conclusion i've come to is that living in chicago has made me like the california desert even more.  growing up, my family camped a few times in the desert while it was in bloom (anza borrego) and we used to go pretty often when i was small and my grandparents lived out there.  after what seems like decades of absence (hmm, and actually was almost decades of absence), i've been the last three years in a row (once for work, once with les, and now with baby in belly). not everyone likes the desert.  but i do. give me hot and give it to me now!

from flickr, anza borrego state park - borrego palm canyon

and at the other end of the desert spectrum - roses set against palm trees at the parker hotel ... i tried to conserve some water to offset my stay

the parker
i actually stayed at the parker two years ago, and received a great offer via email to stay with them again this trip.  my old parker post explains what it was about the parker that i loved.  this time around, my afternoon of arrival included a nice walk around the grounds (i do a lot of walking now that i'm not running), during which i was fully appreciative of the 90-degree sunshine and DRYNESS, and was followed by a few dips in the pool and a long rest by the water until the sun set behind the san jacinto mountains.  after dark, i sat outside on my patio - loving the warm evening - and definitely had a caramel-y, banana-y, dessert in bed!

 there's that dessert in bed i mentioned!