Absentmindness versus Baby Brain

I've done a few foolish things in the last couple of weeks. I blame it on being rushed, distracted, and general disorder. It can't possibly be due to pregnancy loss of brain cells :)

1. The other day I went to get my normal Friday morning, end of week, reward coffee. As I ordered my coffee and breezed through the drive through, I came to the horrible realization that I had NO MONEY with me. I had left my purse, with every dollar I had, hanging on the doorknob of our coat closet. I shouted into the barista that I would be back in a flash, I had left my purse at my house. That's the first time I've ever done that. I blame it on last minute morning rushes out the door. Not baby brain.

2. Last week I was leaving a message at work for someone to call me back to follow-up on some information they sent in. At the end of the message, I thanked them for their time and then proceeded to say "Amen." After one horrified moment when I realized what had just come out of my mouth, I rambled a bit more with "Uh ...Imeanthankyou.bye." That one can be blamed on distraction. I was typing at the same time.

3. To save my life, I can't ever find anything I'm ever looking for in my house or refrigerator. I'm pretty sure this has more to do with the chaotic state of remodeling my house is currently in. My couch has been in my garage and our dining room table in our bedroom for a month.

4. Today I spilled ham & bean soup all over my desk. I mean ALL OVER. Can you even imagine the complete and total mess that spilled ham & bean soup causes? Call in the National Guard and Red Cross because we're going to need backup troops to get this cleaned up! I'm still finding soup crusties in the most unlikely places. And everything smells faintly ... bean-y. Ugh. Worse than my silver shoes I'm convinced smell like pepper. This can be attributed to sheer clumsiness. I don't think that anyone could blame baby brain on that one :)

Here's a webmd article published earlier this year that Baby Brain could in fact be real. Ask me in June and I'll give you my honest to goodness opinion if this myth is indeed fact or fiction.

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

I think these are great. I got this email forwarded to me at work, where I am on the Wellness Committee. Definitely wellness tips :)

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately.. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat.. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes, or that box of Cuban cigars. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day? 9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards. 10.

One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" Have a great holiday season!!

These are a few of my Favorite Things

Christmas has some of the best holiday treats and in no particular order, these are a few of my favorite things!

Peppermint Mocha creamer. I think that Coffeemate may have heard consumer pleas because this has become a yearlong shelf staple. No longer do I have to be the person who purchases 6 full-size creamers every time I go to the grocery store. You think I kid, but I kid not. You should see my hoarder-esk chest freezer. What can I say, they freeze well!

Be still my beating heart. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe's. I like to buy cookies from Trader Joe's. In fact I have yet to meet a cookie I didn't like from Trader Joe's. These are the best. Reminiscent of an Oreo with peppermint candy creme filling and peppermint candy cane shavings on top. (Are you hungry yet? Because I am!)

I brought these home after sampling them at cooking club (yes, I know, no one "made" these per say. We don't always cook at cooking club. We sometimes just eat). Lance really likes these too. My favorite are the cherry flavored ones, they taste exactly like an original hard candy Lifesaver, which is one of my favorite imitation cherry flavored candy.

Speaking of imitation cherry ... does anyone remember my past post about the Wildly Cherry M&Ms? I love me some Cherry M&Ms! Mars (or God) must have heard my not-so-silent wishes for a comeback tour because here are my beloved Cherry M&Ms!

One of my favorite Christmas desserts growing up was Schwann's Grasshopper Pie. Sadly enough, they don't make them anymore. In fact, it's really hard, as a whole, to find a pre-made Grasshopper Pie. Lance searched 4 different grocery stores for me the other day and came up empty handed. His poor, pregnancy-craving induced wife. She'll just have to make her own Grasshopper Pie this year :)

I picked this up on a whim at the grocery store the other day. This is Canada Dry Ginger Ale with Cranberry. It's fantastic. Especially if you are pregnant and seem to crave fizzy drinks much of the time. Canada Dry is made with real ginger, so it's good for nausea. And it's caffeine free.

Christmas speciality products give me the warm fuzzies :)

Minimalist

At various times of the year and after reading different blogs and books, I think about how convenient and head-clearing it would be to be a minimalist. Just think, a simple, small home with a cozy reading nook, one small closet filled with mix and match clothing, a few pairs of choice shoes and a few well-loved books. I could almost be Parisian with that mindset :) However, I'm an American consumer who loves her freedom of choice and living by a Target within a 10 minute drive. Even when I was a college student and had to squeeze my life into a 12x12 cell, I struggled to pare down my existence. But it's always at Christmas when I'm up to my ears in Christmas cards, wrapping gifts, and baking that I think "maybe minimalistic is the way to go." And then I shake my head no and proceed to spend a vacation day being attacked by other shoppers at the mall, my evenings trapped in the kitchen with my rolling pin and a lunch break standing in line to purchase $50 worth of stamps for my Christmas cards. Nope, maybe next year I'll tell our families no to Christmas and yes to a minimalist Christmas we'll all just go on a vacation to Aruba and celebrate the birth of baby Jesus in the sunshine :)

Who's with me?

My Aveda Christmas List

My husband thinks because he's putting in hardwood floors, that he is automatically exempt from giving me a Christmas gift this year. Ha! We've been together for how long now ... oh yes, 8 years. Has there ever been a year when I haven't wanted a Christmas gift?

One of the things that I love are Aveda products. My heart goes pitter-patter for Aveda. Sadly, my wallet chimes "empty, empty" for Aveda. But(!) the Aveda Institute is having 20% off this Friday and Saturday on all their products, which as far as discounts go, that's as good as it gets.

Here are the items that are on my Aveda wish list:

Smooth Infusion Shampoo and Conditioner plus their other Smooth Infusion Friends

Carribean Therapy Body Cream

Outer Peace Acne Spot Relief


And the Outer Peace Acne Relief Pads

Lance - if you are reading this, good! This post was meant for you. During my last Aveda facial they told me that the Outer Peace line would really help with my pregnancy breakouts. Thanks honey!

House Remodeling - Floors

Goodbye stained, flawed, ugly burber carpet.

Goodbye cheap looking laminate flooring.

Hello nasty vinyl flooring found beneath the icky laminate in the kitchen.

Welcome stove in the middle of the dining room. I'm sure that your location won't be annoying or at all challenging when it comes to making meals.

Basically, welcome to my world of controlled chaos!

Peace Lily

This is what happens when you allow your co-workers to care for your plant the week you are gone.

Okay. Fine. You guessed it world.

I'm pregnant. I'm due in June. Go us! I've been very fortunate not to have any morning sickness and very minimal nausea. Food smells have been troubling and I never know what is going to sound good for supper. Hence, limited food posts :)

I'm approximately 13 weeks along :) Don't hold your breath for belly pictures, it's not really my thing.

Funny stories about announcing our upcoming child.
1) When we told my parents on Thanksgiving, I tried to steer the conversation towards what my dad and mom wanted for Christmas. Somehow the conversation turned to medical maladies. I tried to steer the conversation back to gift lists for my mom for her birthday and again, the topic went an entirely different direction. Sigh ... so instead of getting to ask one of my parents if they wanted a grandchild for a Christmas gift I ended up just announcing it.
2) Lance had to announce it to his family twice. His mom entirely missed the first announcement and I figured that it was an important enough of an announcement to be repeated :)
3) I took pink and blue frosted sugar cookies to work to announce my pregnancy. Sadly, no one put two and two together that pink and blue was significant. After 2.5 hours of nothing, I ended up sending a second email explaining to everyone that I was pregnant. One of my coworkers just thought I was confused about what colors are appropriate for Christmas.
Needless to say, this wasn't exactly how I pictured informing everyone about our upcoming baby!

I won again!

My friend Rachael, believes that I win everything. Not so friend, not so. That being said, I did win a sweet giveaway from Isabella & Max Rooms. I won a $75 credit from Stella & Dot Jewelry, which I've been in love with for the last 3 years or so. I picked these earrings and these earrings. So much fun! I can't wait for these to arrive in the mail. Happy early Christmas Kara :)

Special Cookies

Here's a picture of the last two sugar cookies left out of the batch that I took to work. Notice anything special about them?