proof is in the animal crackers.

I was walking through target and spotted this.

All I can say is that- if its lilly pulitzer, I will buy it. Even though I dont really like animal crackers- they're too lemony. However., that is not the point. I contemplated buying lots of boxes in case I happened to throw a spontaneous lilly pulitzer themed baby shower in the next few months- I would have great favors. But then I realized (a little sadly I might admit) that I was in dream land. So  I setteled for 2 boxes. Im not really sure why I even needed 2 boxes, except that in dream land I can come up with some pinterest-esq craft with the box.  dream land is nice. :)
life.love.lilly.

hook.line.sinker.

I made a major life decision over the weekend.

I joined LA Fitness.

I know, huge. Not as big as cancelling my cable would have been if I followed through with that claim, but still a big deal.

As part of my membership package, I got a free fitness assessment with a guy named Larry. I  dont like to pass up something free so I signed up. When I went into the appointment, I was FULLY aware it was a sales pitch to get me to sign up for a personal trainer, but I had already told my friend on the phone as I walked in, "They can say whatever they want, there is NO way Im signing up for anything."  Larry and I chatted about my weight, goals, current body fat percentage- all things I love discussing with a boy in a public place. But I swallowed my pride and was honest in order to make it worth my while. Larry then decided to go over what he thought was a good timeline- and hit me with this gem, " Well, this will be a great opportunity for you to ring in 30 strong!"

stop. right. there.

I am a MORE than 2 years away from 30. Why, why, would Larry want to age me to that dark number so fast. I gave him the death stare- like it was the Hunger games, and told him we would NOT be referring to 30 as my goal and to not again mention my future birthday. Fortunatly, he thought i was just hilarous and said we could use the new year as my new goal. Good idea, Larry. He gave me a very informative lecture about how to lose weight, build lean muscle, etc. You know the same stuff  I read about in Fitness, Self, and Glamour every month and promptly ignore, but for some reason, it was really making sense today. Larry also gave me some pointers about my eating habits: too much diet coke was his main critique. Lets just say I moved that piece of information promplty into the forget part of my brain. Its just not going to happen. He also suggested that for my after dinner snack (known to most as dessert) I substitude sweets for a high fiber cereal or vegetables. How can I even begin to respond that?

Finally, we got to the workout part of the assessment. And was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it! I have the attention span of a small child when it comes to working out. Having someone there to force me to complete and exericse as well as show me what to do was really helpful. After the session, Larry asked me if I would like inforamation on the programs they have, and before I realized it, I said, yes please. 

And 20 minutes later I was the proud new owner of a personal trainer.
Congratulations, LA Fitness, I took the bait.
But I dont think its a bad change. In fact, Im kind of excited about it :)

Wish List

I long to be the kind of person who can walk into anthropologie and pick out something to wear. But I'm not that cool yet. However, I did need to buy a wedding shower gift for a friend and she was registered there so I decided to head over. Even if I cant pick out clothes yet from there, I can pick out an awesome housewear or five that I love.

I walked in and asked the sales girl at the front how I could get a copy of my friends registry. She rolled her eyes and declared with utter disgust, "we dont have REGISTRIES, we have WISH LISTS." this is going to go real well. I resisted the urge to make a snap back and wispered" be Jesus " to myself and asked where I could get a copy of the wish list. She motioned towards the register. At the register, the sales girl had to page the manager 3 times to figure out how to access it, and then was annoyed when I asked to have a copy printed. Hello? Has this woman ever shopped off a registry, err, wish list? One needs the list in hand so you can walk around see what the bride picked out, what you like, and then make your final decision. I know I do things my own way, like take my pizza apart when I eat it, but I dont think Im alone on this one.

Finally, I had the list in hand and began to shop. Only then did I remember that I hadn't had lunch or diet coke yet and the combo was making me very very hangry (you know the hungry/angry phenomenon). After a lunch break and meeting up with my aunt, I went back to tackle the project. I thought the hardest part was over. Wrong. After combing the "Wish list" and comparing skew numbers to find the exact item, I finally had a great gift. However, at the registy I learned that THEY DONT TAKE ITEMS OFF THE WISH LIST FOR YOU. 4 20 something sales girls surrounded me and explained me that its impossible to indicate which items you purchased. When I questioned them, I got many a confused look-as if none of them have ever been to a bridal shower and realize the importance of this feature. I dont want to go to the shower and watch the bride open four of the same things. I finally just smiled and asked them to gift wrap the box for me.

And you know what the irony is of the whole thing, they win. Why? Because they have the best stuff. So Ill just rant and rave, and then one day register there myself.

Its been a while. A long while. But hopefully I'm back to stay. After some major life changes, Ive decided to return to the blog. I know, the moment you've all been waiting for. And yes, I realize "return to the blog" may be a bit of a stretch as I only posted about 3 times before I lost the motivation.

I worked thursday through saturday nights but here are some things from the weekend.

1) I correctly predicted the color of my patients hair on saturday night. Blue, for the record. If that is not mad nursing skills right there, I dont know what is.

2) We had Community Q BBQ catered for dinner as a nurses week treat. The macaroni and cheese was the best I've ever had. And no lie, there are 1400 calories per serving. Thats proof enough that its delicious. That and the fact I have plans to go back for dinner tomorrow night and then the gym for the rest of my life.

3) I got to spend sunday morning with thirteen 2 year olds. I teach sunday school at church  and look forward to it every week. I pray the children have such sweet memories and learn about Jesus as I did when I was a little lady :) One little boy runs to the door each week with a giant smile on his face when he sees me from down the hall and it makes me happy every time.

4) I had sweet phone call with my mom on mothers day. I'm so thankful for phones that make it easy to talk when you live far away from the people you love (and im thankful for my mom too, obvi).

 

5) "Downton Abby" is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows. Its hard to beat "Teen Mom" in my book- but this comes awfully close.

 

I dont have a plan. or a theme. or any real ideas of where Im going with this, except that its just a little bit of me.

the end.

for now.

 

 

my fears came true. i wrote about 2 posts and then never wrote another word. until now that is. danielle consider my re-entry to the blogging world your 4 weeks till your due date gift. You might have hoped for something cute monogrammed for Carter, but my words immortalized is what Im offering today.

Its been 75-80 degrees the past week and im lovin' it. Ive spent the past few afternoons sitting in a wad of pollen at the pool, but i .dont. care. Laying at the pool has been heavenly. Yesterday, my friend and i did some morning shopping at the outlets. We got some cute stuff and were walking around and decided to go into the Kate Spade Outlet. I mean who doesnt love an adorable purse and wallet that is also an additional 30% the lowest ticketed price? Upon entering the store, we were greeted by a VERY attractive young male where he asked me this question- "Hi, what brings you to Kate Spade today?" What? What brings me to Kate Spade? What brings anyone to to that store... PURSES. And then what i would say if i wasnt a chicken came to my mind " What brings me here? Oh, well I was looking for a young attractive single male sells pricey women's accessories for a living" Instead I looked at my feet muttered " purses", and shuffeled away and out of the store, purseless.

yesterday i was the special guest for my aunt's preschool class. it was community helper day, and i dressed up, as myself, and was a REAL LIVE COMMUNITY HELPER.. kids, get it so good these days. when she asked me if i would come, she told me there were only 2 requirements 1) i wear scrubs and 2) i bring my stethescope. no problem. i even upped it and declared that i would even wear a PRINTED scrub top. you are probably wondering what the big deal about wearing a printed top is. its a big deal. i hate the printed tops. you're right- there are tons of cute ones with flowers, and pretty bright colors, even pink and green ones that look like lilly pulitzer might have made them. but when you have the upper body composition of a line backer you tend to steer away from bright and bold prints on fabric gives you a lovely box shaped appearance. and since the day i had that revelation, ive been a solids only girl. fear not, i also look cheery for the kiddies, just not at the expense of my self esteem.



so, i donned the print top (i saved one for emergencies-which clearly this was) and even wore white pants to up the stereo type and went to class. i got directions to the class room and was told "walk down the hall through the forest, turn right, and its at the end of the hall". i felt a bit like dorothy in the wizard of oz and walked quickly through the forest at the risk the trees throw apples at me. i was behind a kid with a plastic stethescope around his neck and decided following him would bring me to the right place. it did. all the kids dressed as different community helpers. it was quite possibly the most adorable thing i have ever seen. when class started, i got to sit in the teachers spot on the carpet and tried to play a little game with the kids. i said, who can guess my job. one kid ,dressed as a chef, exclaimed COMMUNITY HELPER. bingo smarty pants (my aunt had said about 100 times in ten minutes that it was community helper day). i said well yes, but what kind? i said "i work in a hospital, and i help kids feel better, and i work with a doctor, who do you think i am?" (while holding my stethescope) and the construction worker said, A DOCTOR. no, darling, i work WITH a doctor. now the farmer exclaimed, A COMMUNITY HELPER. oy vey, i was on the verge of bursting in laughter and my aunt chimed in and a said a nurse. they seemed very disappointed. i let the police officer try listening to his heart. he says " nope, i hear nothing." great, could you just use your imagination - you are four - thats your job in life. i said "try again, i think you really can!" i suppose the power of suggestion swayed him and he told me he could. halleluliah. then the construction worker looked at me and declared, " well, i know everything, and i knew it all even in heaven before i was born." how do you compete with that? i couldn't.



so me and my bright print top went home and napped.

i joined a Bible study and the first meeting was on wednesday. if i wanst nervous enough, when i got the email giving me the details about the meeting it had those frightful words, "...it would be wonderful if every one brought an appetizer." oh boy. if going to a strangers house, with a bunch of people i have never met doesnt make me scared enough to contemplate taking some xanax, then the only thing to possibly push me over the ledge is having to bring something for all to share. so i spent a few days freaking out and scouring the internet, and my recipie box (which houses about 3 recipies), and came up with nothing. ive discovered appetizers are quite tricky. it had to be something that did not need to be hot/warm while serving, was easy to assemble or i made it beforehand, and lets be real- didnt involve anything too difficult or any type of platter that a real grown up would have. because i am a pretend grown up. i almost went to the grocery store to see if lean cuisine had a appetizer line that perhaps id missed, but then realized the abusrdity of that- it was raining way to hard for the grocery store, ill stick to my in home resources. and then while talking to my mom on the phone, i found a recipie for pumpkin dip. and got so excited because it had some of my favorite foods cheese (cream cheese, not cheddar but i love all cheese) and sugar. whats not to love? and then i was reminded that there is a shortage of pumpkin this year. sweet deal. the Lord must have wanted me at the bible study and sensed my rapidly approaching freak out and provided me with an abundance of pumpkin at the grocery store. and i set to make the dip

as you can see, i have not lost my five year old baking skills that involve splashing the batter all over the countertops.....and sink, and my arms, and the mixer. however when all was said and done i had made this:

no you dont need glasses, the picture is blurry. my camera and i are having issues. but my dip was quite tasty and it was quite the hit at the bible study.