Surreal

This is the most surreal time in my life.

I have spent years and years wondering if I'll ever get the chance to be pregnant and give birth and then one day, I had the answer. YES.

Petesie and I were chatting today about how some women give birth without knowing they're pregnant. I get that each pregnancy is different, but literally - every single thing about my body has changed. My hair, my skin, all five senses, my taste  buds, the headaches, the back aches, my belly. Not to mention the many hours I've spent so completely nauseated that I can't get out of bed, and the daily (multiple times daily) throw up sessions. :) Feeling all these changes is absolutely surreal and to realize that this journey ends with a real baby blows my mind.

I promised myself I wouldn't buy any baby things for my own baby until I actually became pregnant, and when I did, I was too scared the dream would *poof* and be gone. So I still didn't buy anything. Today, we went to Carter's outlet and started the spending... Cannot believe that come May the little one in my belly will wear the cute little overalls I got today with the sweet little hat Petesie picked out.

Speaking of changes... I wonder sometimes if my "belly" is imaginary - the result of a big meal, or am I just pushing it out to "feel" pregnant??

Turns out, the answer is no. I do, in fact, have a baby belly. :)

See?

5 weeks

6 weeks

 10 weeks

 13 weeks

(also note the changes on the floor!)

Tag, I'm it!!

My sweet friend Emily tagged me to answer the following food questions. She definitely asked the right girl - I'm all about food..(or was, and I hope to be again as soon as this pesky morning/afternoon/night sickness passes)..

1. What is your favorite dessert? This is fairly easy for me - Creme Brulee, no doubt. Yum! All variations are welcome with this girl. :)

A more distant second would be Tiramisu... mmmmm.....

2. Ever try to cook something and fail miserably? Absolutely, without a doubt. I think that's what makes cooking so fun - it's all about trying, failing, learning, tweaking, and starting over. I doubt there are many self professed cooks out there who never get it way wrong.

In fact, as I search my brain for an awesome example, I look no further than the above answer. Tiramisu is tricky. :) On Petesie's birthday one year we had over his best friend and his then girlfriend (now wife) for the first time meeting her. It was my first time cooking dinner for the group, and while the dinner was okay (just okay), the Tiramisu was literally a liquified mess. Great first impression. Another funny time was another "dinner party" - our friends came over and I roasted a chicken... upside down... and by the time I realized it, it had been resting for about 30 minutes and the bottom (ie, the breast side) was so slimy and undercooked. Awesome. :) I pretended nobody noticed, carved off the breast, cranked up the oven and stuck the breast pieces back in. Salmonella be damned!

3. Is there a dish you haven't made yet, but really want to? Only about a thousand. I collect recipes and always have a list of dishes to try. Petesie got me a Creme Brulee torch for my birthday (in August....) and I have yet to use it. I blame the babe - haven't done much cooking the last 14 weeks!

4. What is your favorite food? Hardest question ever. The homemade chicken stock and stars pasta I'm gobbling down right now is pretty darn awesome. Fresh rolls and bread straight out of the oven is also hard to beat. I think I'm kind of a purest sometimes when it comes to food, but will try almost everything! Emily answered "pastries" to this question, and she may be right on - Croissants in France are divine! We had some amazing ones on our honeymoon...

5. What is your least favorite food? Slimy stuff like Oysters, Snails, etc... can't stomach them. In fact, thinking about it is making me want to vomit. Again. (it's been a rough day!!)

6. Do you have any seasonal meals you like? ooohh... what a question. The Talley family is long known for our amazing holiday dinners - Thanksgiving, Christmas. Both are amazing. My mom makes a Christmas brunch, and while pretty basic, is worth the 365 days wait. And Easter brunch. We celebrate at our friends farm and the spread is AMAZING! So, I guess I pretty much like all seasonal meals. :)

7. What is your comfort food? Certain casseroles (picked up the ingredients for Green Bean Casserole today!), meatloaf, binky beans (what's that, you ask? Sautee some bacon and onions, add green beans, cook down, add balasmic vinegar and salt to taste. Cook til mushy. Or less mushy if you like. Yum!). Fresh bread, Mac & Cheese, spaghetti. Again, I call out the chicken stock and stars I'm eating right now.... all amazing.

8. Chocolate: milk, dark, or white? Okay, call me crazy, but I'm not really a chocolate person. I think from all the above answers, it's pretty obvious I'm into savory. Sorry for the lame answer!

Thanks for the tag, Em! I'm tagging Kelli next. :)

Soo..... long time..... much to say!

Sorry everyone for going MIA there for a while. :) I swear I wasn't trying to blow off the blog entirely, but, well, life seems to have gotten in the way.

With what, you ask?

Well, first of all, there's this:

That's right, Peter re-did the floors. They look so pretty now. Thanks Petesie!

Then there's this:

We went to the cabin one weekend. Chilled, lounged, found petrified mice and did inappropriate things with them (mom....). Isn't my lil' sis so darn cute??

Then, there's this:

Aren't they cute? Some of the loves of my life, we've had lots of good days lately snuggling. :)

And lastly, there's this:

Oh yeah, that. :)

Spilling the beans - I'm somewhere in between 12-13 weeks pregnant! Ahhh!!! (I say somewhere in between because it changes depending on whose measurements you use. I like the date that says closer to 13 weeks - it makes me just one day away from the coveted second trimester....)

Our littlest one is doing just great. We saw him today (we call it him, but have no idea what gender he actually is... and won't be finding out until he comes out in May!) and he was jumping all over the place and waving hello (swoon.... I just love that lil' guy).

Seriously though - I will be doing more frequent updates now that there is something very exciting to update with. It's just that for the last 10 weeks I've barely had energy to get my head off the couch, and when I do lift my head off the couch, it's usually to throw it over the toilet. So, yeah - they aren't kidding when they say morning sickness is rough. I had NO idea.

I'll update more soon - lots to talk about! How we found out, what happened leading up to the whole "positive pregnancy test", how I'm doing, how Peter's doing, etc...

Okay, that's all for now. :)

The Strangest Thing

The strangest thing happened to me this morning.

It was 7am. On Sunday morning. And I woke up - inexplicably* up early and ready to start the day.

*maybe not entirely inexplicably - my back has been hurting a lot lately and it was throbbing when I woke up. I assume this was the reason I was wide awake as the sun came up...

Nevertheless, I'm one of those people who will sleep 12 hours if given the chance (which is exactly what I'd done the night before). After a wonderful date night** last night, maybe I just felt rejuvinated in life?

**our date night was really quite perfect, a special treat to ourselves to make up for a rather rough week. We went to one of our all time favorite restaurants Serious Pie, but because it is not only our favorite, but half of Seattle's favorite, we had a good hour long wait to kill. So we walked around downtown and stopped into Nordies, where my mom (thanks Mom!) bought me these boots:

I'm still deciding how I feel about them, but I'm leaning toward loving them... Cute with leggings, skirts, long slouchy sweaters, etc.... We (okay, I) got big sissy a fabulous birthday pressie she will die for (can you say Chanel? I promise I didn't give it away!!). Anyway, after quickly shopping, we headed back to SP, where we devoured the best appetizer I've ever had - Peaches and Burrata cheese with pinenuts and a drizzle of basil-oil, shared a couple glasses of wine and two Serious Pies - Garlic, Broccoli Rabe and Cured Ham as well as the go to favorite Chanterelle Mushroom and Truffle Cheese. Added perk - at SP you sit at a table with other guests of the restaurant. We were squeezed, sitting across from each other, between a couple of other couples. One of the couples was leaving and had a couple glasses of Chianti left in their bottle, and handed it off to us to finish off. Score!

I digress though from The Strangest Thing that happened to me this morning - also titled "Why It's 10:45 am and I have completed many chores already". So, I was awake, early. Came upstairs, rolled out the yoga mat and did some stretching in the peaceful quiet of the stillness of our home. Did some work on the computer and eventually Petesie came up to meet me. We had coffee, he had eggs and toast and I went to the grocery store. At 9am. LOVE grocery shopping at 9 am, seriously. Nobody there, I can get in and out in under half an hour and finish shopping for the week. Which is what I did, plus I gave myself a treatsie. Breakfast Maple Bar, anyone? Yes please!

Came home, and in the true spirit of fall, which I am quickly catching (proof - I wore my red wool jacket out last night and felt just so darn festive. Plus, Husky Football started yesterday! LOVE these fall weekends!) busted out the dusty crock pot and whipped up some beef stew for tonights dinner. Should be lovely - carrots, potatoes, onions, diced tomatos, beef, chicken broth, salt, pepper, mustard, fresh thyme and fresh rosemary bunches.... It already smells delicious.

Then, I decided to take my meal preparation one step further and boiled up a whole chicken - we'll have shredded chicken on hand this week, plus chicken stock. These kind of things make me Very Happy.

So - that's the strange thing. I have already been more productive today than I usually am in a whole 12 hours. We're going to enjoy the rest of the day hanging out with my boy George Clooney (aka The American, aka, we're going to see a matinee, which we rarely do) and adoring my boots. And sissy's chanel. No, I promise I won't take it for myself. (Big sissy - come up and visit and I'll give you your pressie!!)

(I'm not above bribery. I learned it from my mommy).

Happy Sunday, ya'll.

unexplained leave of absense

Sorry to leave ya'll hanging there - it's been several weeks and well, I just haven't felt much like blogging.

Not that there hasn't been a lot going on either - the usual summer activities (dinners at the lake, bike rides, etc...), my birthday (27!?!?!), "Week of Julia" (so dubbed by my darling husband, who went above and beyond all week), a wedding, a concert, work, chores, etc...

I think one excuse is that my camera died. And who likes a post without pictures?

I'll try to be better. Fall is here. School started today and even though its been a while since back to school for me, it's still so bittersweet. Today, I "celebrated" by staying home sick. No really - I've been fighting this cold since last week, stayed home Monday, reluctantly went in to work Tuesday and this morning felt knocked on my ass. Yuck.

BUT, like I said, no post is complete without pictures, so I give you my first meal of the day (it's now 2:58 and I'm just now getting around to eating something). Maybe this'll make me feel better?

(it actually IS making me feel better)...

Sweetie's Green Smoothies:

1/2 c. yogurt

1 banana

1-2 cups Spinach (I promise - can hardly even taste it!)

combo of fruits (I used a handful of frozen mixed fruit and half a can of pineapples in their juice)

liquid (usually I use juice, today I used water)

*put all the stuff in the blender and blend. Load of vitamins, lots of calcium, potassium, etc....

I know this post is exciting and thrilling. While we do have some stuff going on in our lives right now, I just don't want to put everything out there on the world wide web - yet. Maybe sometime soon. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a short video from last week (a snippet of the life in the Lacy household - real DRAMA here people!) and a promise to be better. Note the psycho dog in the background...

Fun Things

Let's summarize the Many Fun Things accomplished by the Lacy fam this weekend:

I'll be brief, our moments of much fun are interrupted from around 6am-5pm by this little thing called Work on Mondays through Friday. After which, we try to get back to our lifestyle of Good Times.

To Recap:

1 - Took Several Naps (Fri & Sat)
2 - Grilled Tasty Dins (Flank Steak Kabobs and Cilantro-Lime Chicken) (Fri & Sun)
3 - Visited with our Friends in The West Wing and Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (Fri & Sun)
4 - Ventured into the magical world of Skype with our London based friends (Sat)
5 - Made fresh scones (Sat)
6 - Ate Scones (Sat & Sun)
7 - Ate Scones and Drank Coffee with favorite Auntie J on her garage-top Garden Deck (Sun)
8 - Watched sweet Doggies (Monty & Milo) romp/frolic/pant from heat exhaustion/lap up lake water (Sat & Sun)
9 - Enjoyed Beef Taco lunches (Sat & Sun)
10 - Floated on/in The Lake in 90+ degree days (Sat & Sun)
11 - Swam about in The Lake(Sat & Sun)
12 - Sailed about on The Lake (Sat)
13 - Enjoyed Ceviche and Cream Cheese/Pesto/Sun Dried Tomato spread appetizers and wine with Auntie J (Sat)
14  - Dined on Tilapia and Pasta Salad (Sat)
15 - Watched a Music Documentary (Sat)
16 - Made S'mores over gas grill flames (Sat)
17 - Watched the night sky for meteor showers (Sat & Sun)
18 - Slept to the sound of Loud Bullfrogs (Sat pm)
19 - Woke to the sound of Panting Dogs (Sun)
20 - Rode Bikes and Got Very Sore (Sun)
21 - Watched a Cute Kitty Sunbathe in a Sandy Beach and Frolic in the lake (Sun)
22 - Read in The Shade (Sat & Sun)
23 - Obligatory Target Run (Sun)
24 - Obligatory Eddie Bauer Outlet Run for Replacement Shorts (Sun)
25 - Minimized Sunburns with Extra Sunscreen (Sat & Sun)
26 - Drank Lots of Water (Sat & Sun)
27 - Cooled down Hot Kitties with Damp Washclothes (Sun)
28 - Slept Soundly in Our Bed (Sun pm)

Full, happy weekend enjoyed by all. :)

rainy day

It's a dreary and drizzly rainy Saturday in August. Oh Seattle, you have robbed us of the summer for sure this year. Despite this, I still love you and promise not to leave.

And, despite my love for the sun and for all things Summer, I am allowing myself to embrace the rain. I'm hoping this is just a momentary blip in our Summer, but it sure feels like fall is about to begin. And I do love the Fall. Fall means new backpacks and sharp pencils and boxes of crayons that smell like fresh wax and anticipation. Fall means football Sundays and Monday and Thursdays and sometimes even Saturdays. Fall means Birthdays and Anniversaries and pumpkin spices and cinnamon sticks and pot roasts and beef stews and crockpots and baked goods just because. Fall means new shoes and sweaters and red wool jackets because even if you aren't going back to anything, one must still enjoy a back-to-school pick me up.

I'll embrace Fall when it arrives, but I'm still hoping for more days of Summer muggy warmth and wet hair, flip flops and salad for dinner because it's too hot for anything else, crisp white wine and sun dresses and neighbors at the park and splashing in the water. Summer is magic.

On this Summer Saturday, you can find us here:

Yeah, that's P taking a nap :)

And cleaning here:

While baking this because blueberries were on sale at Costco: 

and flipping through these because it's almost been a year, which means we are no longer "newlyweds" but just "happily marrieds".....

Happy Saturday!

Renovations and Changes

Been gone for a while - sorry to anyone waiting with baited breath. :) (oh, no one? okay then!)

We've been busy around here though, for sure. I've been very productive the last couple days (some might say rather manic) - so much so that my boss told me that I was "high-strung" and should "take a nap." This was at 9:30 in the morning. Needless to say I didn't take a nap right then and there but pretty much collapsed when I got home....

We're discovering how to take what's old and make it new. Also I've been revisiting my past and am very excited to say, have rediscovered the joys of this:

That my friends is a speedo swim suit and swim cap. Yep, I've decided to take up swimming again (it's been so long that lil' sis doesn't believe I actually ever WAS a swimmer. But I was, I swear I was. And the people at the swimwear shop can prove it - when I gave them my name, they found me in the system and asked if I was still on swim team. Uh, do I look 17? Nope, haven't been on the swimteam for 10 years, but they gave me the "swimteam discount" anyway..).

I redecorated the wall at the bottom of the stair case and put up some family pictures. I think it's glorious.

Petesie took down the old blinds in our bedroom and put up some pretty new ones. When we use the term "eighty-six" in our house, it has more than one meaning. Yes, to remove/take away the old stuff, but even more so, because everything that's old is all from 1986...

And we decided to pain our living room. And by we, I mean me, and my "decided to paint" I mean I tested out a patch, decided I wasn't crazy about the color, looked up at the high ceilings and decided I wasn't crazy about the work involved, but then was told by my darling husband that it was too late and I had committed myself with the one color patch. Fantastic.

What else? My mom, in her quest for grandkids has decided to practice patience and instead, dote on her "grand-dog".. what is the world coming to? She picked up Monty when we were at work last Wednesday and took him to the groomer, got him shampooed and groomed and got him some "pressies" as we like to say - a shiny new blue collar and a sweet bandana. Petesie is having some difficulty with the new "adjustment" and has taken to calling poor Monty "Fancy Boy." I, on the other hand think he looks darling and am happy to have less dog hair to vaccuum up. :)

See Pretty-Boy in action:

On a side note, I hope today we are seeing the beginning of something big, which makes me very, very happy. I squealed out loud when I clicked open CNN and saw this today at work: Judge strikes down California ban on same-sex marriage.

Please refer back to my post on the Declaration of Independance wheere I highlighted that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Well said, Thomas Jefferson, and well argued Theodore Olson (who, although argued for Bush in Bush v. Gore is now the darling of liberals everywhere...).

Here's the thing: I've spent a LOT of time thinking about this and wondering why it is we want to get married, what marriage means to me, what a family means to me, etc... I believe my very core that marriage should be available to EVERYONE - whether those couples be interracial, homosexal... May/December Couples.... My choice to marry Peter was never contested by anyone and has never been considered illegal, but in our own right, we are also a couple outside the norm. And nobody, anywhere (legally speaking at least) at any stage in United States history has blinked an eye at our choice. So why did we have the right to get married when other dear friends of mine would either have been thrown in jail for their marriages at certain points in time or are still banned from marrying? It's so deeply unfair. And please, when I read that "children do best in homes raised by their own mother and father" I want to vomit. Like 50% of marriages today don't end in divorce already. Like half of children today are raised in homes where they do not have one mother and one father who are married to each other. When I read that and hear that, I want to show them MY family: Mother, Father, Step Mother, Step Father, Big Sister, Little Sister and Brother (who I would never dream of qualifying as anything less than my full sister and full brother)..... Need I go on? Okay, I will: Second Step Mother, Second Step Father (sorta!), Step Brothers, Aunt, Faux-Uncle, etc...

Needless to say, I have a non-traditional, blended, family and I was raised in many homes by more than one mother and one father. It takes a village and children most certainly do equally well, if not better, when they are surrounded by many, many people who love on them and love each other, regardless of gender and sexual orientation.

There. I said my piece. I am hopeful that when my children grow and choose to get married, they can choose whoever they want, regardless of the shape (or quantity!) of their chromosomes.

Getting off my soapbox. And going swimming!

It's happening...

I'm turning into my mother.

The good news is, if I had to turn into anyone else on the planet, I'd want it to be her. She's smart, fun, generous, a great cook, loves her people, pretty and is in WAY better shape than I am. Go mommy!

The bad news is, I'm only 26.

Seriously though. I find sometimes I glance in the mirror and see her really briefly (sometimes I see my big sissy, sometimes I even see my dad...). I look at my hands and see hers (I do love her hands though). I open my mouth and not only her words come out, but her voice comes out too (which isn't a bad thing except when I try to sing. You do not want to hear either of our voices try to sing - not pretty).

Today though, was a new one. I took the dog for a walk (this isn't so new) but then when I came home I noticed the neighbors hydrangea bush is in full bloom with bright periwinkle bursts of flowers. What did I do? I went inside, grabbed my shears and quickly, while no one was looking, snipped off five or six branches.

Exhibit A: My "borrowed" (okay, stolen) flowers:

Aren't they pretty?

Well done, mumsy. You've raised a botanist-wannabe kleptomanic, taking right after you. (seriously - I've seen her pull over to the side of the road for a good wildflower before!)

Something my mommy doesn't do however, is take pictures of her kitties. In that regard, I'm growing up just like big sissy (who famously dresses up her kitties for their annual Christmas card. One year it was Mary and Joseph with a stuffed baby Jesus.....)

So I leave you with a reminder that I not entirely becomming my mother:

Edited to add:

Oh crap. I just now took another step in the mom direction without even realizing it. Doggie was driving me crazy panting so I walked him outside to the front porch to leash him up so he could cool down... problem was - I'm not really wearing pants. Underpants, yes, pants no. Score one more for being my mother's daughter. My poor neighbors.

Summer Loves

I can't get enough of summer time in this city, I love it so much. It's hard to explain the thrill of seeing nothing but little sun images on the 10-day forecast and numbers that never get lower than starting with a 7. Yes, it's summer - finally - and with it comes lazy weekends, sunburns, grilled dinners, fresh salads, and the joy of sleeping with nothing but a sheet on to keep us warm.

(Awesome Chicken Skewers from last week - Chicken, Onions and Bell Pepper Kebobs, grilled with a glaze of lime/honey/soy brushed across them every couple of minutes. The spinach was sauteed with bacon and a little lime drizzle, and of course, crusty French Bred)

We woke up this morning on top of our sheets, just holding hands across the void between us. Love these mornings, I wish I could bottle them up and keep them for the period of time from October-May. Oh Seattle. :)

Petesie is in the yard cutting down trees with the neighbors. My wifely instincts went into overdrive when I realized that most likely none of the men working with the chainsaws have ever chopped down trees before, certainly not 30 foot tall trees surrounded by townhomes and houses. Hopefully all the buildings will still be standing (and no legs chopped off accidentally!) when they call it a day. I'd take a picture, but my camera seems to be irreparably broken. Just like my old computer. And my phone. Argh

We have nothing on our plate today but enjoying the sunshine (and chopping trees) and I think we're going to head out to the lake this afternoon to get some floatin in. Must float. I do take my floating very seriously. :)

On a side note - I made this salad last week and it turned out perfectly. Thai Style Jicama Salad with Shrimp. Highly recommend it, and it tasted just like our favorite Som Tam (Papaya) salad from our Thai restaurant down the street.  

Staycation!

Petesie was on vacation last week and I joined him on Friday for a long weekend. (Sad, when the only vacation you get for six months is a three day weekend, but it's better than nothing!).

After a quick visit to the eye doctor and dropping some serious cash on some brand spankin' new glasses for Petesie (who does look verrrry handsome in glasses.... ohlala!), we packed up our stuff and loaded the car with the doggie and headed up to the lake ("the lake" for those who don't know is where I grew up - gorgeous, private, small and peaceful, pefect for a weekened getaway). My parents were out of town and graciously left us their house to use... and their dog to watch... which we did with pleasure.

Me, expressing my vacation happy state of mind:

P and I love vacations at the lake, and we really are getting quite good at the whole "staying on our bums and do nothing" kind of lifestyle. Scary good actually...

Friday night we enjoyed pasta with bacon and a creamy gorgonzola sauce for dinner along with some delicious sparkling pinot grigio which I could drink like juice if only I didn't get such nasty hangovers in the morning. We took the doggies for a walk (I started to panic when we were about a half mile away and realized that the family dog Milo is getting a bad hip, and what if walking him for such a distance would result in an immobile and in pain doggie the next day? P humored my paranoia and took Milo and I home, where we rested) and finished the second season of Man Men (I am in love with Don Draper. He has bumped George Clooney off the top of my short-list)..

Saturday morning we ate bacon, potato and egg hash and watched Monty accidentally almost charge a kid of a friend of our parents who had been invited to come by and fish in the early morning. We forgot there were visitors and let Monty out and he took off running after poor little two foot tall Henry. Good thing Petesie ran after the dog in his boxers and introduced himself to the whole world in his "just got out of bed" look. Hot stuff. :)

Saturday afternoon we spent the day reading (both), painting toenails (Sweetie), napping (Petesie), sunbathing (Sweetie), reading more (Petesie) and taking a quick trip to civilization to get ingredients for dinner (both).

We've been talking about making lettuce wraps lately and had dreamed up a dish together - blackened fish, pico de gallo, and avocado served in a nice crisp lettuce wrap. So, we got some snapper and made a faux-cajun rub, grilled it up and made a mango-jalepeno-avocado pico de gallo to top it in a sheet of iceberg lettuce. I made some black beans and chopped up a watermelon and we were set for a delicious, romantic meal. Unfortunately, it was not all we hoped it would be, as the lettuce was still dripping wet, and the mango topping just made a mess. The flavor was good though.

Petesie set up a romantic picnic for dinner:

We ended the night with Will Ferrell and Talladega Nights and a little more wine.

A little tableau in the garden.... We pay our respect to our favorite Mariners. And Hello Kitty:

Apparently, my mom just likes to set up shrines to those she loves. Rocks engraved with the names of all three girls:

All in all, it really was a great relaxing weekend. We came home to two kitties who missed us and a dirty house (which we've since cleaned) and a new appreciation for parents who handle human children - these two big dogs totally wore us out!

Not Ready To Make Nice

How's that for an ambiguous post title?

Read into it what you will, but the truth is that I am revisiting the Dixie Chicks (a staple of my high school days), and am listening to this song loudly and on repeat this morning. This song is SO good and actually pretty meaningful to me on a lot of levels. Including my recent revival of liberal, outspoken, patriotism. Thanks to the Dixie Chicks for making a stand and taking heat for their unpopular political views amongst their fan base.

Speaking of music....

I am no longer the only blogger in the Lacy fam. Head on over to my darlin husband's new project - all about music - introducing The MAXAM Project.

My husband is so cute.

On another note - I have lots to tell about recent days and weekends in the Lacy household. We spent a glorious vacation weekend last weekend at the Lake, and a recap is coming. Also, some great new summer recipes and whatnot. Stay tuned. :)

Monday Thoughts...

Oh I am so tired. Petesie practically had to push me out of bed this morning, and I practically cried when I realized that he (lucky man) got to stay in bed as long as he wants today. Petesie is on vacation all week (lucky man) while I am at work. Lucky man.

I blame the exhaustion on a glorious, happy and sunny weekend.

Because I'm too tired to hammer out an actual post, here are some thoughts:

a) I am so thankful for sunny days. Even though today isn't sunny. We had such amazing Seattle summer weather all last week and weekend, and I have quite the blotchy, painful and itchy sunburn to show for it. I woke up in the middle of the night to rain drops on the gutter, and I was thankful for that too. It means I don't have to water my plants tonight!

2) (you see how I did that, Petesie??) I have finally come around to what the rest of the world already seemed to know - guacamole makes me very happy. Last night I whipped up a batch of fresh guac (avocados, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime and salt!) and couldn't stop eating it. Then I cried when I saw my thighs, but I think it was worth it. After all, all those ingredients are part of a healthy diet, and I probably got two servings of veggies in with my dinner. :)

c) Listening to Paul Simon's Graceland is going to get me through Monday morning.

4) When I pulled out of the garage this morning I was sent off by three of the four members of our little family, all lined up at the door waving me off (okay, just Petesie was waving). Petesie, Monty and Puss-n'-Boos (that's her nickname) were all watching me leave, and it was the cutest little goodbye. Especially the fluffy little cat just standing there watching me leave. I wish I had a picture.

5) Similar to #a - Sunny days = Spending time at the lake. We BBQed, watching hot air balloons float overhead, watched osprey fish for trout, hung out with family and friends, floated twice, drank sparkling wine and had a fantastic Crystal Lake style brunch potluck/World Cup Final watching party over the course of the weekend. Weekends like that has to be what Heaven might be like, I think.

6) We made a batch of Starbucks Summer Blend yesterday and stuck it in the fridge for this morning. Even though it is overcast and cloudy today, iced coffee is a great way to start the day in the summer. Also, due to an odd number of vacation hours I have, I will be taking .95 of an hour off early this afternoon and go home to play with my family. Can't wait.

That's all for Monday morning. :)

Lucky Me!

Why working in the same building as your husband has it's perks:

::swoon!::

End of a long (okay - short, only four days!) week and this message pops up.

Right back atcha, Petesie!

Something else that has it's perks on a hot day? Working in the ice-cream department. After lunch we all had little dixie cups of Java Chip Ice Cream on our desk. Yum!

Lesson I Learned Yesterday....

....Don't take your shoes off at work.

You might be reading this and think, "um, duh!" - but here's the situation. I was in a meeting (at this point you are thinking... "what was she thinking?!") and we had about six people in a conference room on a big, hour and a half long call with our customer. The conference room has a big huge window (overlooking the entire Seattle skyline - hard to pay attention in there!) and it was HOT yesterday. 95 degrees! Plus, I was wearing pumps.

So, under the big table I slipped off my shoes so I could wiggle my toes freely. Under the table, so no one would notice.

And then a little while passed and I decided to put them back on. I found one shoe without looking and slipped my foot into it. I then started feeling around for the other shoe with my other foot and couldn't feel it. So I peeked down. Nothing. Scooted my chair back and peeked again. Still nothing. Started trying to inconspicuously search a little harder. Still nothing. At this point, people around me started to giggle, but I couldn't figure out why. Maybe someone said something funny and I missed it due to my search for my missing heel. I leaned over and whispered to the gal next to me, "Um, I can't find my shoe!" and she burst out laughing and so did the rest of the table, and as I glanced around table, I figured out why.

My shoe was on the table, right smack in the middle.

And it had been for like 20 minutes. They all knew, and the whole time were wondering when I'd realize it.

Needless to say, I just about died. And vowed to keep my shoes on.

On a side note - it's lovely and HOT out finally. Yay for Summer sun! Last night Petesie and I went out to the lake and went for a lovely swim after work and I can't wait to get back there tonight. Love it!

On another side note - I am intrigued by this recipe - Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese. I think I'll make it soon.

Lastly - I am also sort of intrigued by this whole US Spy/Russian Spy exchange. If I had a lot of money, I might buy the rights to it and make it a movie. No worries, if I can't, I am sure someone else will.

Happy Friday!

Old Glory!

July 4th has really done a number around here. I swear, for the level of lethargy, you'd think we'd have been waaay tispier than we actually were last night. My mom tells me that even the kids are acting hungover today. Petesie blames the high voltage rock and the gun-powder... I agree. :)

(Lil' Sissy. You wouldn't believe I took her shopping for real makeup last weekend, and this weekend she went and smeared blue all over her face... showing her pride for the good ol U S of A!)

We had SUCH a fun day yesterday. The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday, and yesterday reminded me why. In my mom's neighborhood, the festivities start bright and early with a fishing derby for all the kids, followed by vintage community activities like hot dog roasting, three legged races and cotton candy.

 My parents then have a great big party at their house afterwards for all their friends and neighbors. The house is always perfect - my mom's Martha Stewart meets Americana tastes mean every detail is just right, her yard is an inspiration, the food is abundant and the beer is flowing. And the tequila flows as well, if you know where to look (thanks Jani!!). :) The best part of the night is our great friend Ricardo and his one-man band, which tends to bring the neighbors in from around the hedges and forces us to dance until we can't feel our feet anymore. I am literally sore today from my head to my toes.

Here I am both enjoying cotton candy like a little kid, and beer like a grown up. Love it!

This year the weather wasn't cooperating, and mere minutes after the band's complicated set up (outside of course) of all Ricardo's electronics, instruments, etc.. it started to rain. Just light drizzles, but enough to get a little worried about what to do (you'd think we would have a Plan B in place. Nope!). Needless to say, all the men got very excited at the thought of having to erect a faux-roof made out of bungee cords and tarps, and basically saved the day.

(If you look closely at the top of this tree, you'll see what Petesie thought was an Owl. Nope, that's no owl, that's a Bald Eagle, celebratin independance with the rest of us!)

I'm waiting on my mom to send me pictures off her camera, BUT as I fixed the video player, you can all enjoy some of our shenanigans below. :)

Ricardo's Rocking Star Spangled Banner - a highlight of the night

There was lots of this going on all night:

Lastly, we thanked America for declaring freedom some 334 years ago or so, so we could party on down today!

O' Say Can You See?

We had a great 4th of July. Despite the lack of any summer related type of weather.

So great, that I literally have not moved in the last hour and a half, paralyzed on the couch. Ugh, I am SO tired.

We really celebrate July 4th in a big way. If we are so inclined, festivities start at the crack of dawn and go until the crack of dawn on July 5th. It's crazy how mcuh we love celebratin' America. :)
More to come, recap wise. I think I am going to try draggin my bum off the couch downstairs to the bed for a nap. Then I'll be back, and will do justice to the holiday spectacular.