Currently.

me, right now.

My sweet friend Megan shared this fun post this morning, so I thought I'd play along while I wait for Henry to wake up from his nap!

Obsessing over: Movies. I think winter always gets me into movie-mode, and this year I've been really into re-watching old favorites via Netflix Instant Play during Henry's naptime while I get things done. Today was the black and white Miracle on 34th Street. So good.  And right now Netflix has so many great films to stream including two of my most favorites- Death Becomes Her and Edward Scissorhands. They also have some newer ones I really enjoyed, like Morning Glory.

Working on: I'm currently in the middle of a couple of new blog-related and writing projects, but what I am working on right now is making it through the day without indulging in sweets! I do great all day long, but around 4 or 5pm I find myself making the same not-so-good choices. And every day I tell myself that I'm not going to do it again, but for the past few days I've ignored my better judgment and had that cookie (or cookies), that caramel corn, or whatever other nutrient-free mindless snack is available. Ugh. I'm all for treats and enjoying delicious food...but when I'm grabbing these snacks I'm not even hungry. So today I'm just trying to get back on track from our holiday weekend, and holiday weekend leftovers!


Thinking about: going to Henry's 1-year appointment in a few hours. Honestly, it feels like yesterday when we brought him in for the first time. I was fresh from my c-section and all of those days seem like the biggest blur...except certain distinct moments with Henry. I remember that first appointment vividly, and I'll admit I'm a little teary thinking about bringing him in today for his big one-year-later check-up. I'm also thinking about how truly lucky and grateful I feel to have a healthy one-year old.


Anticipating: Christmas, of course! I can't wait for all of the fun events coming up. Outside of family stuff think I'm most looking forward to the party Natalie and I are having at my house- an old-fashioned girls' sleepover for our girlfriends. We're doing a potluck, ornament exchange, and heading downtown to enjoy the lights and winter sights. Very excited.

Listening to: the white noise via Henry's noise machine in his room. He's due to wake up from his nap any minute, so pretty soon the sounds will be interrupted by babbling and sweet little "ma ma ma ma mas." I'm also having a text conversation with Autumn so every minute or so the little notification goes off. If only all of my friend who are stay-at-home Moms lived in the same place!

Drinking: water. It's pretty much all I ever drink, with the occasional green tea or almond milk in my rare bowl of cereal.

Wishing: that I could slow down time, just a little. 2012 in just about a month? I feel like it's 1998 and I'm still 16. Where did the time go?

How about you? What are you up to today?

Best of 100: Some quick thoughts about blogging.

Earlier today I was going through some of our photos, trying to decide which ones I wanted to print, when I stopped on this one. Everything in this picture makes me laugh. Henry's frustration in the monster costume's head piece is obvious, but beyond the cute "he's going to just looove this photo when he's older," there's a bit more here that got my wheels turning.

I started thinking about blogging. And how I might take 100 photos, but I'll post 20 here. And guess what? Those 20 photos are the best of the bunch. If we're talking about this past Halloween we probably tried for a good 10 minutes to get Henry to keep his hat on long enough so we could capture the image of him dressed up for his first trick-or-treat. If I wanted to I could have posted 20 photos of our squirmy little costume-hating boy, arching his back and just not having it, but that wouldn't be pretty to look at would it? So I put up the good ones, where we got a slight smile and we're all looking at the camera.

And isn't that kind of blogging in a nutshell for most people?  Putting your best self forward. And adding to the idea of taking 100 photos and choosing the best, there might be 100 moments in a day that I could blog about. I'm going to choose just a few and leave the rest. In my world, on my blog, I choose the positive. I choose to share the happy moments, and although I try to touch on random things here or there, even if I was in the worst mood, was a total brat to my husband, or just felt totally sad all day, I won't usually get into it. But it still exists. And I think as a reader (and writer) of blogs it's important to remember this. It's so easy to get caught up in the very attractive world that's put out there. Many years ago when I was just starting out in the whole online thing I can remember feeling those very unwelcome pangs of not measuring up when I'd take a peek at so many other sites or blogs that portrayed a "perfect" life. Although I was so happy in what I was doing, there always seemed to be someone else doing something so much cooler. As I got older and wiser though I realized that yes, of course there is. There always will be. The key to happiness to be happy with you. And if you're not, be inspired and change it. Getting lost in wishing your life was like someone else's is the biggest waste of time there is, and just feeds into that negative mindset. Blogs have the potential to play a huge role in that because essentially these sites are just little windows into other peoples' lives. You just need to choose with what perspective you're viewing from.

I think at times that because I am a happy person that really, really thrives on positivity, this blog often reflects only that. I try and be 110% me at all times here, as authentic as I can get (without throwing in some curse words), but still, this space is only a small part of me and my days. I try and remember that same thing when I am reading other blogs too, and I think it's an important thing to keep in in the back of your mind as you both read and write. 

That's all. I wasn't even going to blog again tonight but I was working on a project for another site and got sidetracked looking at photos, then started thinking, and now, here we are. :)

xoxo

Sunday!

a Saturday afternoon sweets date yesterday - we split a red velvet cupcake and Henry wanted some of it so badly!

Sundays are the best, aren't they? On this particular Sunday we woke up at my parents', and I can hear Henry and my Mom playing downstairs. After I fed Henry and handed him down to her, I snuck off into another guest room to let Hank sleep in for awhile longer. If we were at home I'd most likely be nice and do the same, so I'd be the one out playing with Henry- so I'm grateful for this little block of time to do as I please. And how am I using this time? Like any internet-loving girl: I'm blogging, playing on Pinterest for a bit, and I will (maybe) answer some of the many emails I need to get to.

Sundays have always been my favorite day of the week. I feel lucky that my parents were never the type to force us out of bed. This sounds crazy, but when I was teenager if I wanted to sleep in until 2pm my Mom would let me! I think it's because I worked so hard during the week (and most weekends) playing sports, so I think my parents saw any day I could sleep in as a special kind of thing. I just feel very grateful they weren't the "rise and shiiiiiine, sleepyhead" while throwing open the shades kind of parents.

Now I'm a morning person on my own, and having a baby has solidified this even more. Most mornings I'm up in the five o'clock hour, and often just lay there, half-sleeping until Henry finally gets up around 7am. Lately though as the mornings have stayed darker for longer, he's been sleeping in longer and the other day he slept in until 8:30. I was beside myself with what to do, but then realized good old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was waiting patiently for me in our DVR. Thank god.

The rest of today will be fun- in a moment I'll wake Hank up, then my family and I will head out to do the Sunday ritual we always do when down in the valley, breakfast and a Trader Joe's run. We don't yet have a TJ's two hours north up where we live, although miraculously they're building one set to open this winter (YES!).  After that I'm planning on a nice, long gym visit, then it's back to my parents' to get ready for Danny and Janay's wedding! Like I mentioned on Friday, this is the seventh wedding of 2011 for us, and the last, so I'm looking forward to dancing the night away with Hank.

Happy Sunday, everyone!