one year wiser

It's birthday season in our household! Within 2 weeks we have had both Brian & I, both of his parents, and my grandmother. Phone calls abound!

I'm happy to say I had an absolutely lovely birthday. This was a welcome juxtaposition to last year's, which went a little something like this: bad weather, lots of people out of town, no pre-planning, friends bailing at the last minute, a few tears, cancelling the plans, then finding out 2 people didn't get the memo so I had to pull it together and go out anyway. It was a perfect storm of bad timing. As someone who really loves birthdays, this was one for the books...the Can We Pretend This Never Happened books.

This year, I was determined to make up for it! It fell on a Sunday so naturally I converted the one-day affair into a whole weekend of whatever I wanted to do. Brian was working most of the time unfortunately, but I still got to see him after his shows and Sunday morning.

Highlights included -

*Friday: killing a few bottles of wine at Kim's. Yes please!

*Saturday: working out, followed by 2 Lifetime movies...haven't done that since about 2006

*Saturday night: BYOB sushi dinner, which was so freaking delicious! Then off to a hole in the wall (code: my new favorite place) called Danny's, which had an awesome dance floor and the cheapest drinks I've seen in Chicago! A lot of people came out - apparently timing was right, this year. After waiting in line in the freezing cold for half an hour to get in the bar, Brian got in JUST in time for me to demand going to a new bar and then immediately demanding to leave for some late-night Chicago's Pizza...for the third weekend in a row. He's so lucky!

Kim, me, Jess, and Shay

best late night addition to the party!

*Sunday: sleeping late and presents in bed are the BEST!!!!!! I opened a couple of cards from friends, which I loved, and opened some presents from Brian's parents. Sidestory - if you recall, Brian's mom is a notoriously erratic gift giver. Sometimes she nails it (silver necklace!) and sometimes she doesn't (giant poster of my face). This year I got two hits and one miss. I'm sure you can figure out which categories these fall into:

That's right. Stallion rain boots.

I got a Clarisonic from Brian, which is the greatest invention since the iPhone (surely will get its own post), and a SW gift card from my Austin girls, which I want to use ASAP! A very special present also came at 7:30 am in the form of Jackie's new baby!!!!! What a happy text to wake up to! I was so hoping he would arrive on time so we could share our birthdays :) As a sidenote, she had her baby sans drugs, which is just shy of a miracle in this day and age where the drugs are the norm, not the exception. So proud of her!

presents are fun for everyone

Brian and I went to brunch at our local favorite, Marmalade, and then he headed to the theater while I went to Paper Source and got myself a calendar. Being 29 is crazzzzzy!

*Monday: this was possibly my favorite part of the weekend. Jessica & Ryan had a $350 gift certificate to Fleming's and were sweet enough to share it with us. We had a wonderful, loooong dinner filled with delicious food, some nice treats (champagne and wine glasses to take home!), and great conversation. For a little background, Ryan was an usher in our wedding but I didn't get to know Jess until I moved here. This past fall, they moved a block away from us and it's been fantastic having them so close! Jess is now one of my closest friends - having a good couple friend is awesome!

All in all, it was a great weekend and thank you for your birthday wishes! I plan to live up the last year of my 20s....eeeek!

can you hear me

I don't know how I've kept this blog for four years and never dedicated a full post to the white fluffball that occupies so much of our attention at home, but due to a recent occurrence, I think it's finally time.

We just realized that our 14-year-old cat is deaf.

Actually the more precise statement would be: I just realized that our 14-year-old cat seems to be almost (or maybe totally?) deaf.

Apparently Brian thought this might be the case for a while and seemed completely baffled when I said he was insane. Then I shared my back-pocket stat that 8 out of 10 blue-eyed, white cats are deaf and he nearly died. As if that proved his point!

Then he launched into an unofficial hearing test, which consisted of making a series ridiculous sounds, snapping behind her ears, banging on the floor, etc. The only thing she responded to in the whole mix was a very specific clucking-tsssk noise, which is what is keeping me from proclaiming her 100% deaf. But maybe it was just a vibration that the sound makes...? AH!

It had never crossed my mind at all that Powder might be deaf. I have now embarrassingly many times proclaimed that she was one of the 10 that wasn't deaf, how special was she?!?!

So naturally you're probably wondering how the F could I miss something like this, well don't you worry I've been asking myself that too. And every time I come up with a good explanation, then I think of an equally compelling counterargument.

No way: She meows all the time.

Well maybe: She wanders through the house meowing and only stops if we're in the same room as her.

No way: We talk back and forth all the time! Except sometimes she ignores me.

Well maybe: Sometime she "ignores" me.

No way: That seems like the kind of thing her previous owner would've told me, since she raised her for 8 years before I got her.

Well maybe: On the other hand, that same woman told me she had to get rid of her two old cats because her new fiance was allergic and she was afraid they'd get put down if no one took them. About six months later, the fiance-now-husband told Jackie that he just hated cats. So I'm guessing deafness might've slipped her mind.

Well maybe: She loves going outside but she's SUPER skittish, which would make sense if she can't hear anything approaching.

Well maybe: She isn't bothered by really scary thunder.

Well maybe: She sleeps through parties at home, including a lot of sporadic yelling during games.

Well maybe: She meows every time I walk by her in the morning when I'm getting ready and she's dozing...I'm pretty sure I startle her and that's why.

Well maybe: She's equally scared of a broom and a vacuum cleaner.

Well maybe: She won't come when called unless I pat the chair or stare at her (don't ask).

Well maybe: I read from a website, "Deaf cats are more people-loving cats than those who can hear. However, these cats may have louder voices, presumably because they can't hear how loudly they meow!" Powder loves me and Brian HARD, and she is one loud m-f-er.

Now, a few years ago she seemed to really hate guys just from hearing their voices (cue Brian London), so it's quite possible that if she IS deaf, it's sort of come on in the past few years. But then again, as I re-think everything, maybe there's a good explanation for why she was reacting that way back then. Who knows. But the whole white-cat-deafness-thing is genetic so that would mean she was one of the lucky ones and has since gone deaf with old age...and that doesn't seem very likely now does it.

The one thing that's a little funny is how I've started accommodating her "disability" (if it exists). She'll be meowing in the hall and I'll move to where she can see me, when who knows if she was even crying for me in the first place. I've been petting her extra so she knows I love her LOTS since she can't hear the tone of my voice that means I LOVE YOU LOTS. And I think I gave her extra food. Because she's deaf okay! It's the least I can do!

Maybe we should just have the vet put an end to our wondering? If they can even test that sort of thing?

sleeping soundly...shocker

spending the days

January has been a funkified month around these parts lately. The weather, although not miserable, is still not super outdoor-conducive. Work has not been particularly taxing. Brian has been gearing up for his show to open. All these things combined = a lot of downtime at home for me. Busy hands make for a happy heart (I made that up I think?) so I've been focusing on the 3 Cs to keep things moving...cleaning, cooking, and crafting.

Cleaning

The Office Overhaul has been my main undertaking. I was inspired after seeing how Jackie transformed their office into a totally different space, and then became angry at how disgusting our junkroom mailroom cat litter infested office had become. But hey, it's nothing a Friday night, some wine, and an Alanis Morrisette Pandora station can't handle, right?! If only I were kidding. If only that wasn't Brian's station.

The OO project is now a week underway with a decent stretch to go but I've tried to keep doing something everyday so as not to lose momentum (which is exactly how this room turned into this disaster in the first place). I had to do so much cleaning, then organizing, and now I'm in the "put stacks in the dining room so we're forced to get rid of them" phase. I've managed to get the majority of crap out, and after multiple trips to Home Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Michael's, I'm starting to get somewhere. Still on the to-do list (aside from purging all the dining room crap...) is: custom framing; find 2 lampshades; buy rug; get a little more storage. Unfortunately I fell in love with some decorative storage at HG but they didn't have enough so I asked when I should come back and they said every day. Because that's totally healthy.

Cooking

I've been trying a couple of simple recipes lately to get myself eating some new veggies and fruits. This is mostly uninteresting to the reader but is good for my belly and has translated to some delicious lunches at work. I'm also trying to coach myself to be less intimidated by cooking. For example, I made some key lime bars last weekend (box recipe) and then realized we didn't have powdered sugar for garnishing, but instead of blowing it off, I thought, "Maybe I could whip up some frosting from scratch?" And I did. And it was totally goopy and weird and I mis-read an ingredient (my specialty), but the point is - I actually thought that I could take a few extra steps and make the dish better instead of letting it stay as-is. This is a great feat for me.

a little chicken, brussel sprouts, and sweet potato goodness

Also, we got this badass - and I mean badass - little blender thingamabobbie for Christmas from Brian's parents. THE NINJA is so awesome because you can blend things in the normal container OR you can blend in a cup. This is perfect for making a smoothie for one! Plus it came with a colorful cookbook, and that never hurt anything.

Crafting

My main ongoing project is to print our honeymoon blog into a book. I thought this would literally be a 5-click process on print2blog.com but I hated how unprofessional it looked so now I've gone and gotten myself addicted to Blurb. This program lets you custom design every aspect of the blog, although it populates with suggested layouts and whatnot. Perfecto. Unperfecto that I'm only on page 11 of 90 though.

I also spent one night burning my fingers making the same cute fabric flowers that Patti made for Jackie's shower! I've only worn 1 so far...no wait that's a lie. I wore one and it fell out before I even made it to the train. So you might say I haven't found the perfect hairclip for them yet. But I love them - I only wish you could wear them more often!

My last craft was making notecards for Brian to give the cast on opening night (a theatre tradition). Since the play is about Houdini, I thought these would fit the bill! I had all these materials on-hand, which is even more gratifying. I knew I'd saved all those buttons for years for something!

see it's like a card hidden in a sleeve...

and then you can write on the back!

I'm accepting any and all Pinterest suggestions if you see anything that could keep me buys in one of the Cs :)

words on marriage

Can we talk for a minute about how much I love my husband?

He listens to each and every one of my endless diatribes about work. We have giggly stupid joking funny-voices tickling ridiculous laughs...at home...on the couch...on a Tuesday. He is legitimately the most thoughtful person I know (or at least he is to me...keep that up!). If we have to cook & clean, he lets me choose which I want to do, and then offers to do both. He is so funny. And creative. And genuinely intelligent. I haven't gotten to his hair yet!

Don't get me wrong, it's not like we're living in a Beach Boys song. There are plenty of annoyance, frustrations, a few tears, yada yada. But nothing that makes me feel anything less than crazy lucky.

oh and he's super cute

winter #2

Today's been one of those full gear kind of days...a real-feel of -6 doesn't really leave you a lot of options.

It's funny how my winter "getup" has changed since last year, and I had put an awful lot of thought into last year's prep. I felt like I made it through just fine with what I had, yet looking back I realize I've changed literally every part of my winter strategy since then...maybe I've wised up a bit?

• Mittens. Last year, I mostly wore thin wool gloves. Now, I have mittens (key to preserving warmth) that are lined with fleece and have a wool outer. Plus the tops fold back so you can play with your phone on the train without releasing all of your heat in the process. If I ever find the person who made these gloves, I will kiss them on the mouth.
• Commuter boots. Last year, I tried to wear one pair of shoes to/at work every day. Normally this led to me either being cold during the commute (if I wore non-fuzzy boots) or hot/silly-looking at work (if I wore fuzzy boots). I wasted countless minutes every morning trying to figure out which part of my day I was willing to forego. Now, I've given up the delusion of efficiency - I wear fuzzy warm boots every day and take a separate pair to change into at work, no questions asked. Because hauling a big-ass bag around for 80 minutes per day is totally worth every blessed warm step.
• North Face coat. Last year, I wore a short puffy coat made of polyester. At the time I convinced myself that I was warm enough. Ha. Ha. Now, I've invested in a knee-length, down-filled North Face coat..because there's a difference between cold and effen cold.
• Moisturizer. Last year, I watched as my skin transformed into a reptilianflaking mess. Hello, dry air! Now, me and my oily skin moisturize twice a day. Ladies with similar skin, you've gotta understand how crazy this is - it seems so wrong! But it feels so right. Okay that's enough about that.
• Vitamin D. Did you know that Chicago gets an hour less of sun each day than Austin gets? ONE HOUR EVERY DAY???????? Last year, I didn't start taking Vitamin D until probably March or so. Now, I'm already back on the wagon. Or off the wagon. Whatever. Wherever the pills are, that's where I am.

I think I'm on the right track to achieving maximum warmth, but that's mostly because I can't fathom adding one more item to cover my body. That being said, I'll probably laugh at myself this time next year after I've figured out more ways to make things a little more bearable. Can't wait!

a baby in our midst

There are only two places I've flown to where I had transforming experience before even getting into the city: Las Vegas - where everyone gets drunk on the plane - and Memphis. The flight crew drowns you in delicious Southern accents and as soon as you step off the plane, the smell of BBQ abounds! How can you not smile at that?

This weekend, I got to experience the Southern immersion by co-hosting a baby shower in Memphis for one of my very best friends, Mama Jackie! (Not her official name but that's okay). I've helped throw several wedding-related parties, but this was my first one for a babe! I've actually only attended one other baby shower in general, so hosting one is pretty new territory. Katie, Patti, and I joined forces with Jackie's mother-in-law, who basically let us use her house and run the show...thanks Janie! Since we were all English majors and Jackie and her husband love to read, we went for an alphabet/book theme. The baby's nursery has two walls of built-in bookshelves, so we had everyone bring a book to help build Baby's new library!

We also had everyone decorate pages for a little alphabet book.

One of the highlights of the shower was Patti's amazing food! I had no idea she could cook like she did, but she "whipped up" an entire spread by herself. This did a good job of reinforcing my current standing as lamest cook ever.

Yep, those are homemade fortune cookies.

My favorite one was "Baby McC will grow up to be a goat farmer."

some sort of quinoa something or other

zucchini tarts

She also cranked out these cute little fabric flowers that we made into nametags. I think I might try to replicate them for...I've been saving some fabric scraps that need a good repurposing (and I'm also actively trying to prove to Brian that I'm not a hoarder).

I didn't get a picture of the favors, but Katie put layered hot chocolate ingredients into bottles...pretty darn cute. All in all, I think we our little suaree turned out quite nicely! Jackie got some adorable things to add to her collection, and it was nice to meet some of her friends that I didn't already know.

I tried out those martha stewart tissue paper flowers.

they're a little more labor intensive than you want them to be, but a nice addition.

Although the weekend really flew by, we got in a couple of delicious meals, a neighborhood walk, and a decent bit of lounging. I know Jackie was exhausted at times, so thanks friend for pushing through for us! The baby is due on my birthday according to her calculations although the doctors say a day later, so I am reallllllllly crossing my fingers for a prompt arrival! It's pretty surreal to have the first baby in our friend group arriving so soon. I'm so excited for the McCrary family to expand and see what kind of little guy/girl we'll be able to watch grow up!

that time DVR totaled my social life

Is anyone else watching too much TV right now? We've got a ton of shows racked up on the DVR right now, and somehow I'm making time for all 10 of them:

Jeopardy: This is the everyday non-negotiable. Alex Trebek is such a jerk and all the commercials are for bladder control but GO KNOWLEDGE! Everything I know about the Yangtze River I learned on Jeopardy.

Dexter: Ugh what is happening to this show?! The writing has totally gone down the tubes. When is it ever appropriate to narrate things like, "I've got to go after him!" followed by running?! Never. Never Dexter.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Not that I didn't sort of love this particular "sect" anyway, but now that one of the cast members' husbands committed suicide and this whole season was filmed prior, it's particularly (I believe morbid would be the correct word) addicting now.

Sister Wives: If I were ever going to use the word "whack" as an adjective, I'd use it now. This show is totally whack. It requires way too much fast-forwarding; all the family members are total goobs; and how the F does this guy support all these kids? But still, we watch.

Modern Family: Sort of hackneyed now, but still funny. Who doesn't love Phil Dunfee?

Boardwalk Empire: I was so into this show last season. Now we've got 6 episodes waiting for us to start caring again. But really...killing, a coup, an affair, more killing...I don't know. If this picks up at all, someone let me know.

Parks & Recreation: Does anyone else watch this? It makes me laugh out loud, every time.

American Horror Story: I hate scary movies. But Brian asked me to just watch the pilot with him, and that's it. I suffered (and I truly mean that) through the first episode - hands in front of my eyes, knotted stomach, praying for it to be over. Awful. But then the next day I was still thinking about the crazy awesome plot that had unfolded while all that scaring was going on. Now I'm totally hooked. It's got such a cool cast (Dylan McDermott, Jessica Lange, the mom from Friday Night Lights, and the mom from Six Feet Under), the story keeps getting better and better, and it hasn't ever been as scary as that first episode again (thank the Lord). I have no idea how they're going to keep up this frenetic pace but I'm committed. You should be too. Seriously. Let's talk.

The Office: Yes they've just continued writing Michael Scott's lines for Andy Bernard. Whatever.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: I hated this when I first watched it. Not now...now, I basically cry with laughter every episode. Brian makes fun of me for how much I want to be Dee, but she's so misguided and awkward and foul-mouthed. Who wouldn't want to emulate that?!

Not that I need any recommendations but we're keeping a "must watch" list for when all these things are over...what shows get you excited?