Oscars- Doing it Pregnant Style!

The Oscars were boring over all, but what was amazing was the number of pregnant actresses there. Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba, Cate Blachett...it makes me so excited. There was a time that if you were pregnant you sat the Oscars out. You wouldn't dare hit the red carpet. Now we have these gorgeous moms strutting their stuff in designer gowns custom made for their ever expanding bumps.



It makes me want to shout: "SEE! We can do everything! Look gorgeous, be talented and make a baby! Beat that guys!!!"

Friday Five- More Weird Stuff About Me

It scares me that there may be no end to this. I am just wacky!!! Heehaaw!

1. I ate sushi for the first time in Second Grade and have loved it ever since. I could seriously eat it for every meal. My Dad introduced me to it (Thanks Dad!) which was a pretty cool thing to do in the 70's when sushi was not as popular as it is now.

2. I do not know my left from my right. I am serious. I have tried to remember and can't! I have to look at the hand that spells L with my thumb and forefinger to be sure. Boy am i good at giving directions..."turn near the flower store and go towards staples"....

3. I get emotional at concerts. It usually has to be someone I love, but I just cry like a baby when I see a talented singer singing their hearts out. It just makes me so grateful to be alive. I just bawled when we went to see George Benson as he sang my favorite song: Masquerade.

4. I don't think white people can sing. I seriously only like black singers. I will give a pass to U2, Phil Collins and Billy Joel. Everyone else sucks. I seriously hate American Idol this year. Too many whiteys. I can say this cause I am one! No nasty comments please!!!

5. I could eat mayonnaise out of the jar. I seriously love it. My girlfriends from college would make fun of me because I would always order extra mayo on EVERYTHING. They would say I loved mayonnaise sandwiches. And I do. I really do.

I am tagging: Short Pump Preppy, Preppy Lizard, Figs Lavendar and Cheese, and Confessions of a Yummy Mummy, and of course anyone who wants to play on this Friday!!!
TGIF! PS spell check is working again!!!

Fabulous Find- Banana Republic Jewelry- Don't make me say it again!!!

I love it when my cute friend Missy comes to town. She used to live in LA but moved back to her home town of Kansas City. She still comes to LA a lot because of her hubby's business, so we end up seeing each other four or five times a year.

Whenever we get together it's eat, shop and nails...in that order! I know I have mentioned the Banana Republic jewelry in passing, in another post. I feel I must highlight the fabulousness of it. I had so much fun introducing Missy the Banana Republic jewelry. Once I had heard she really had never seen it, I said: "let's go experience the love of the Banana Republic jewelry together"! And so we DID!

Yes, their jewelry is fantastic, and well priced, but it is that little fish bowl on the cashiers counter that has the goods. Find their sale stuff and you will be blown away. Case and point:



Head Band : $2.97 (original price $22)
Earrings : $28.00 (original price $38)
Bracelet: $3.97 (original price $38)

Feeling you get when you think you have stolen these things the prices are so low: PRICELESS.






In case you don't believe me on the enamel bracelet:









And remember the bracelet I wanted in an earlier post? I was devastated that when I went to go get it they had sold out. Well low and behold....






I found it yesterday on my own at the mall with Landon. This was the deal of the century. They only had one, it was on sale, and I got it!!!

Original price: $48
My price: $4.31




It's made me happy all day! BINGO!

Not So Fabulous- Permanently pregnant stomach- part two- solutions and temporary fixes!

Since the response (I am sad to say) was so overwhelming, I thought I'd offer a few tips to those new mothers and permanently preggers moms like me.

I can say it in two words: COMPRESSION GARMENT. I know what you're thinking...a girdle? Spanx? Oh yes, and so much more!!!


Design Veronique- has compression garments that are made to be worn after plastic surgery so that you heal firmly and in place. Well, after giving birth this may be the quickest way to slim down. It's a bit uncomfortable at first but them it feels and fits like a glove. This is waaaaay tighter than any other spanxish product. They also have one in all shapes, sizes (be sure to follow the measuring charts) and colors. This is especially good when your stomach bulge is too high for spanx. Here's the one I got. It even comes with an open pee pee hole in case you want to wear it all day. (I know TMI!)



Of course with any of these consult your doctor first!!!!

Fit Sugar also features something called "Lipo in a Box", the same basic idea. You can see from the pictures above this works! It's either a permanent or temporary solution to the pregnant stomach nightmare. My mom found this product (thanks mom!)

Thanks for all the support about my new job. I got my first paycheck today and I have to say it feels pretty damn good!!!!

Part Time Job? Part Time Mother?

I did something insane last week. I got a part time job. It happened so fast I can't really believe it yet. I had been thinking about what to do...with the writers strike lasting so long and Landons medical bills piling up (more on this in another post), I thought I had to do something.

I put out the word that I needed a job with some church friends and in three minutes I had a phone call. It scared me to death because I started panicking about leaving Landon. Nevertheless, I went on the interview, told the absolute truth about my situation ("Hi, I haven't worked in an office for years, have no resume, and am scared to leave my kid!") and he hired me on the spot! He is an accountant (clearly a crazy one for hiring me!) who needs help in his office during tax time (have I mentioned I can't add?). He is so nice and flexible as to my hours, I had to take the job. It's close to the house so if anything happens with Landon I'm right near by.

Okay, so now I have a job. I'm proud of myself. I even made it through leaving Landon. I am trying not to feel like a part time mother, and trust my nanny who is amazing. She loves him to death. He seems to be okay with it so far, although he's way more active now and I need to come up with some other things for him to do now that he's around the house and nanny doesn't have a car. I'm thinking of arranging some play dates for him around the neighborhood, and I just ordered him this:


I have never been in the working woman camp, or the SAHM camp, I've always been somewhere in between. I guess that's where I still am. Any advice? What's been your experience working outside the home, inside the home, or both?

Family Outing- Ride that PONY!

We took our "baby boy guy" to a petting zoo called The Farm, this past weekend. I have to say it was so fun. This particular one had Pony Rides and roaming roosters, chickens and goats. At first Landon ran all round but then he realized he could pet and then HUG a goat and he was in heaven.

He also rode a pony and was a natural. He was so cute! He rode it around the ring three times with a handler leading the way. I was a proud mama.

I got the idea from this great book I have called "Baby's day Out", Southern California. They have things to do for kids organized by season, thing, and place. It really is fantastic. I reccommend it for my So Cal readers!

We Zig When They ZAG- Valentines Date Night

Hubby and I hate the whole Valentines Day, price fix, crowded nightmare of February 14th. We avoid it at all costs because it makes us feel like hamsters on the Hallmark wheel of fake love. So instead we went out last night for Valentines day, so the night could be about us!
I had gotten us tickets six months ago for the greatest guy ever, GEORGE BENSON.



I love me some George, but he did a tribute to Nat King Cole and sounded exactly like him. It was amazing! The LA philharmonic even played behind him. Later he went on to "Masquerade", "Gimme the Night", and of course "On Broadway". The Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA (pictured above) is amazing. It is so worth paying to see something there. The acoustics are the best I have ever experienced and the design is mesmerizing. It looked like the inside of a ships hull.

Anyhoo, George had us up dancing and the whole place was boggeying down. Don't you just love that?

To top off the great night Hubby made "Daddy Pasta"( chicken and asparagus penne in a cream sauce) YUM and gave me this!



Remember how I wanted it as part of my Yellow for Spring look? Thanks Hubby!!!!

Fabulous Find-portraits of your other baby

Neglecting your other baby at home? I found this amazing artist that does the best portraits of dogs.

Her name is Leslie Lewis.

Prices: start at $350 for a 12x12 and go up from there.
She usually works in square format for these, from a photograph. They are oil or acrylic on canvas. She likes to capture elements of the dog's personality in the pose, makes for a much more powerful portrait--especially of a dog!


They are truly adorable. I think Shelby may have to do a sitting? (Who am I kidding a photo will do) Even if you don't have a dog how about getting one that doesn't need a walk?! It just hangs on the wall and looks cute! Now that's a fabulous dog!

Hubba Hubba

My hubby is hot stuff. I love him so much and am lucky to have him as my best friend. He is ONE FABULOUS HUSBAND!!!!! I love you babe, Happy Valentines Day!

Reese is RIGHT!

You have seen that Reese Witherspoon is on my short list of Fabulous Moms. I see her time to time, with her kids and alone. She is even prettier and sweeter in person. I saw her On Good Morning America the other day, and she said some things that really struck me.

On being teased as a child:

“Those are sort of formative experiences. I wouldn’t want my children to miss out on any of that teasing and bullying. Don’t you think it kind of makes you who you are — when you don’t make the soccer team ... I was always really short and really underdeveloped and had big Coke bottle glasses. I think that’s where I got a personality from, man. I wouldn’t give any of it back, not a day."

On winning:

"That's the thing that drives me crazy about today: Everybody wins the award, everybody's the MVP? No! They're not, OK? I distinctly recall the two weeks of crying because I didn't make the volleyball team. But it made me interesting, you know?"

Although it is going to be tough when Landon is teased or loses out in something, and I may want to cry my eyes out for him, deep down I know Reese is right. A bit of teasing makes you stand up for yourself and find out who you are. I was teased for being too tall, too skinny, too anything. It really made my sense of humor go through the roof. I started being able to give hysterical come backs that made everyone laugh, thus shutting the bully's down. This sense of humor is now the basis of my writing career and the way I look at life.

The same can be said for winning and losing. I remember that one of the most devastating moments of my life was not making the Varsity Lacrosse team. (Yes that's me in the picture above in the maroon...trying to get past that amazon girl). Here I was, a Junior in High school, with two years of Junior Varsity Lacrosse under my belt. In try outs I could not catch a thing. Turns out my lacrosse stick was cracked. Even when I tried to explain, Coach Sallinger (oh yes I remember her name), said it was too late. I was on JV.

The humiliation nearly killed me. All of my friends had made JV and I was stuck with the freshman and sophomores. I almost quit. I was so angry at my coach I wanted to teach her a lesson. Who knew she was teaching me one.

I had become a little too "Big for my britches" and needed to stop being a ball hog. I was no longer a team player. Being put on JV, made me realize I had to appreciate my team. I pulled the JV team together, acted as a leader, and we were victorious. Half way through the season, coach moved me up to Varsity.

When she moved me she was very complimentary about how hard I had worked and my perseverance. I was honestly sad to leave the JV girls! We had bonded. This was when I learned to never quit, that winning isn't everything, and that I needed to be a team player, themes that still come up even today.

Maybe Landon does need to lose sometimes to find out who he is. Maybe a little teasing would do him some good. Of course I will curse out, under my breath, any little bastard who is mean to him, but first I'll see how he handles it. Maybe it will be a defining moment in his life too.