Sperry's

I have been in dire need of new shoes lately. I've always been a flip flop lover and I think that I always will be, however, flip flops aren't really good for your feet. It's also Autumn now and I need some closed toed shoes. The trendy shoe that caught my eyes were actually being worn by a man. I called them boat shoes. They looked like the kind of thing that I would wear, they would probably match most things that I own. Plus they looked stable. I go through shoes so fast I knew I needed something to keep up with me.

On Friday my husband and I went on a search for these boat shoes. We went to the Galleria and I was sure I would find them in Clark's. No such luck. But I did find some in the men's section that looked a lot like what I was thinking I wanted. My husband then had the bright idea that maybe they don't make women's shoes like that. So we headed over to Belk or J.C. Penny's and walk around their shoe department. He was right. No boat shoes for women. But I did find some really fantastic Yellow Boxes and, you guessed it, flip flops. It's like no matter what I do they find me. And I want to buy them all!

We head to the men's department looking for manly shoes and I found them! I found the shoes I was looking for! They had them in so many different colors!! And the smallest size they had in men's were too large for me. Seriously? I asked the women working there where I could find shoes like this. She said there is a kid shoe store that sells boat shoes and the boys sizes should go up to a 6 1/2 in men's. My size. That store was all the way out on 280. No way was I going to travel down there. I haven't been on 280 in months and I don't plan on going back anytime soon. I consider that a part of Birmingham that I just don't need anymore. Plus it was getting late, and we hadn't had any dinner. No more driving.

Husband suggests that we look around at other shoe stores in the mall for the illusive 'boat shoe'. I swear that I have seen these around, even girls wear them. Why on earth was it taking hours to find? We stop by a store called Journey's where all the hip new shoes are and lo and behold. My boat shoes, in women's sizes. And their $80?! What?! Some little 16 year old hipster in clothes that a woman should wear was helping me out and while he was very kind I couldn't help but think of myself as 'older' and more importantly.. my mom. Not that this is a bad thing because I love my mother (I do love you mom). But I have very clear memories of shopping with my mother as a small child and if my mother didn't think something was fair or heaven forbid that someone overcharged her the world ended. I felt just like my mother must have felt, looking at this shoe in this trendy teenage store that was about to take $80 from my monthly spending account. That poor child who was helping me kept asking me how things were going and I would say "I'm just not sure if they are comfortable" thinking to myself 'comfortable enough for $80'. When he came back around to ask again how I was doing I looked at him and said "$80 is a lot to pay for a pair of shoes and I don't like spending money". I might as well have been talking gibberish, he walked off to take care of someone else. My husband sank down a little lower in his chair. I don't remember word for word but I know he made at least one comment about my 'hormones' while we were in that store. Hormones or not 80 bucks? Seriously?

Ok so the point is that I bought the shoes. My right foot is still adjusting (I'm picky it's true) and the money hasn't been deducted from my online account just yet so I still feel semi-rich. I spent almost 3 hours trying to find these illusive shoes, these shoes that I felt were somehow just out of my reach, only to have some teeny bopper sell them to me like $80 is what he spent on his hair do. We ate Mexican food later and that solved most of my angry mother moody syndrome.

I was sitting down at a piano lesson just yesterday when a young student, not even in high school, looked at my shoes and said "nice Sperry's". I wanted to drop my jaw. I went to almost 5 stores looking for these shoes and she knew them by name? What's with kids these days?

My husband reminded me this morning that not only have I spent a whole week without updating you on our lives, but that "most people don't want to read about your grocery list anyway". Too bad. I'll get on to the groceries later this evening, and how I overspent by $10. I was bad I know... but dog food... paper towels.. these things cost money. I suppose I took so long in writing again because I have yet to download all the pictures from my camera to my computer. You'd think there would be an easier way considering how hi-tech we've gotten. Here I am complaining about get pictures from my DIGITAL camera onto my computer. It really takes only a few minutes but I'm a procrastinator.

So verbally, I'll update you on our lives. I now have around 6 little baby tomatoes, one of which was eaten by a worm. I picked the worm off but he had already done his damage. I'm glad that it wasn't on one of the big ones. I cleaned out our 'garden'. Really I just pulled some weeds, trimmed some bushes, and swept up. I felt much better about life after that. Something about getting your hands dirty and just being outside makes me feel complete. I'm glad that I have the ability to get my hands dirty now :) Oh and my husband found a concrete head, like part of a statue, only.. it's just the head. I have to admit it's rather creepy, but there is something so odd about it that I love. He's now in my 'garden' My garden of monkey grass and dirt.

Our running lives have been ridiculously slow lately since teaching has started back up. I love teaching these sweet little children but they make running difficult! All the sudden all my time is gone! So I've decided to be better and more proactive and just wake up earlier to get it in. My husband, the night owl, will work out his own schedule. This morning it made enough time to get in four lazy slow miles. I'm not exaggerating at all. Half marathons don't run themselves, and that's my end goal so I need to step it up. Literally.

I'm also working on a new quilting project. I know at least one person who knows what this is for. It's not due until May 2010 if that gives you any hints ;) Well I went to Joanns and picked out all the fabric, or most of the fabric, yesterday. I had so much fun but I was also feeling so much stress! I want things to be perfect and holy moses is it hard to match five different fabrics? I kept thinking... no no, this red should have more orange in it. Where is the orangey-red? Also on my agenda is a baby baptism gown. Anyone know who that is for? I have to get a pattern for that because you can't just eyeball little things like that, or at least I can't!

I also have pictures to upload, I might add them to this post, but I'll probably add them to another post. You know how that goes :)

One more thing! Huxley can now jump up onto the couch without us asking him. He used to just look at us with those stupid dumb little innocent eyes until we picked him up. I was also told this morning, post run, that he jumped up into the bed three times this morning. He made use of the cedar chest at the bottom of the bed, kinda like stepping stones. This also tells me that Huxley got off the bed three times while I was running. Being able to get on and off the bed must be a luxury for him.

OMG Groceries 9/20/09

So we're back on the band wagon! After two weeks of being moved in officially and getting our lives back on track we are going to be counting those pennies and praying that we can actually make it through the week on minimal money.

Have I mentioned that there is a pizza place near where we live called Baker's Pizza. It's shameless really to solicit for them but I just can't help myself. Their pizza is so dad gum good that I can't stop thinking about it. Plus they deliver. We've ordered it twice and the second time was even better than the first. It's not difficult for me to eat half a large pizza within 15 minutes, I'm being serious here you guys. The point is, if we save some money in the grocery department that means extra Baker's Pizza for us. As one of my co-workers-who-wishes-to-remain-nameless says "Holy Moses". It's that good.

Ok on to the groceries! Keep in mind that we already have several things at home that will help us out this week, pasta, eggs, etc. Oh, we got a pantry just a few days ago (it's in the front hall closet) so now I can finally see and use what we have.

Spaghetti Seasoning Packet (for Lasagna)
Sliced Turkey (sandwiches for lunch)
Block of Cheddar Cheese (lunch..)
Large Bag of Shredded 'Mexican' Cheese - we blow through this faster than you can blink, seriously.
Ground Beef (Lasagna)
Ritz Crackers (Walmart brand, they are just as good, especially with dark chocolate peanut butter on them, I'm not even joking)
Mac and Cheese (times two)
Tomato Paste (Lasagna)
Can of Green Beans
Can of Corn
Loaf of Nature's Own Whole Wheat Bread
6 Bananas
4 Granny Smith Apples

Total: $33.04

We decided to skimp by this week on what we have left over so that we could buy more next week. We have enough things at home for breakfast burritos (one of my favorite things to eat), two Totino's Pizzas for Tuesday night. Obviously we're making lasagna, this will feed us for two nights, maybe three if I add in some extra things like veggies on the side. We also have things at home for spaghetti, including the sauce, and we have several frozen chicken breasts that might be for dinner on Thursday. All in all we have enough food to get us through the week and you bet I'm a proud wife to say I only spent $33 on my groceries, but I had to be truthful and say that we do have plenty of add on's at home :)

So our lunches consist of a sandwich and some fruit, usually an apple for me and a banana for Jaime. Is it strange to anyone else that my husband actually works with monkeys and he eats a banana every day? We both usually stop by home for a snack before we start teaching and then we have dinner so it works out well, unless Jaime eats his lunch at 9:30am which he usually does.
Breakfast is amazing, especially this week. Since word gets around that I am a seamstress of sorts people occasionally ask me to do some sewing things for them. A friend of mine needs some straps taken in and I thought, easy peasy. So when she asks how much it will cost I thought.. not much, I mean, straps aren't that hard. I told her a large bag of skittles. Payment in candy is way better than money, especially if the straps would be all of $5. You see my logic. Well this friend not only went beyond the beyond and got me the largest bag of skittles I've ever seen she also made these cupcakes.. ahem.. muffins that are cinnamon and chocolate. So breakfast.. there you go. Special K, you stay up on the fridge for another week..

Oh, and can I just say that the veggies in the frozen section that you microwave in the bag are amazing? Because we tried it once and they weren't that good. But last week I had some in the freezer and thought, why not. I think it's Bird's Eye but don't hold me to it, and I'm pretty sure it was called the Garden Medley, it had potatoes and beans in it, and it was sooo good. I mean, it was so good. Plus we had grilled chicken marinated in Dale's sliced on top of it; I'm sure that helped out a little bit. I might need to add that to next week's shopping list.

There you have it. Groceries.

Jaime

I just had to do this. I just had to. I love you too much not to. I can't wait to have your babies, and don't get mad at me for saying that because it's true. This picture makes me want to procreate. I'm not even lying.

It's September and we've moved!

I know that it's been far far too long without updates from your favorite, moi, so I took a whole bunch of pictures to make up for it :). We've been busy moving the past two weeks. Plus there was the crazy piano cult that I had to host this past week and someone turned 25... ahem. So we were busy busy bees but now I think we're getting the hang of it and I'm really really excited to be here living in this townhome.





You will now begin your journey through our very very messy house, hey we just moved and celebrated the quarter of a century girl last night so chill.




This is the outside of our humble abode. I even found out that they allow gardening here so I may be planting some fall and winter flowers :) to keep my days a little brighter you know? So now we have our very own front steps up to our front door and a light outside in case you can't find your way in the dark. Up above you can see the windows into our bedroom. The middle one is where I'm beginning my sewing station so I have some things stacked up there. The window next to the door is a window into our kitchen, which I have to say, I really like. It's nice to be able to look outside when I'm cooking.



So I don't know if you noticed but on my front door step is a tomato plant and yesterday, for my birthday of course, I started to get one little baby tomato! So I took his picture.. he's kinda hard to see but I'm uber proud.



Inside you'll probably get to meet these guys. This is totally normal posture. Churchill always looks very calm while ignoring the moster on his back, Huxley, who is biting his back. I'm not kidding either, sometimes he bleeds but I swear we aren't bad parents. Churchill is just that loving and patient. I have a feeling that some day Huxley is going to get his fair share. Oh and Mom, if you're reading this, I picked out this floor mat because it reminded me of the ones we had in the kitchen growing up :) Love you!




This is the door you just came in, into our home! The guy that owns the place went on and on about the cappuccino colored walls and how thrilled he was about the two toned. He was very high energy. So here we have what's going to be our pantry tucked in that little corner next to the front door, and a guest bathroom. The red cookbook is sitting on top of the 'wet bar' which you'll see more of. Were these things built in the 70's or what?! Oh and Aunt Nancy, if you're reading this, do you see the purse you made for me years ago? I still use it, it's wonderful, and it's in the bottom of the photo :) Oh and one more thing. Jaime and I finally got two of his aunt's paintings framed, we were very excited with the way they turned out, so that's hanging on the wall!



Ok here is our kitchen! It's small but it's got everything that I need. Note the wet bar in the back.. what the heck am I going to do with that. Also.. Lindsey, thanks for the strawberry and chocolate cupcakes with gummy bears, you know me so well and the strawberry wasn't nearly as adventurous as it sounded at first! You wouldn't believe that they are pretty much half eaten since that box looks very full still... thank you a ton, you really helped make my day special :) Oh and we still have to put stuff on the floor since our pantry isn't finished yet.. literally all our dry goods are on the floor.. makes for an interesting dinner making experience.




This is just to show you the other side of the kitchen :) boring boring boring...



Rather blurry but I was in a hurry. Here is the wet bar again! AND! Stairs!!! I'm so excited to have stairs it's not even funny. Seriously.




Here's a shotgun view of the place from the front door, so you can take it all in. Loving that accent wall and curtains aren't we?! Dog bowls, dog bowls, dog bowls..




Ahhh my favorite part of the whole place. This is our dining area. Don't kill me Mom and Dad, we're going to pick up a new dining room table today.. not that we don't like this one but really I need it for my sewing area, and the one from Grandma and Grandpa would be too big so we got a pub table.. I can't wait to have G&G's table when we actually have more space for it :) Dad.. do you see the Volvo coffee mug? Do you? That's what I'm talking about.
Ok, so in the piano cult I am a part of all the hoity toity people talk about their Steinways, specifically which type they have, 'I have a B series', etc. Like it makes a difference. At first I thought.. how do I not know that Steinways come in different series... I mean.. shouldn't I know that? I felt left out of the loop ya'll. BUT then I got this Yamaha you see here and I am super proud to tell everyone and anyone I meet that 'yes, this is my Yamaha U1 series', like it makes a difference to them. So now I'm my own type of hoity toity piano talker. You'll just have to bare with me. Yes it's a U1 and yes I love it! I talk about the U1 like it's gold plated or something, like I know what I'm doing because I have a U1. Nothing you can do will spoil this for me.
Rennai, very wonderful imaginary friend you are, do you see your Orchids? Do you? Because I love them. LOVE THEM.
And the painting above the piano is one of my favorites, it was our Christmas gift last year from Jaime's mom, she donated the funds and we went and picked something out. I love color, I love this painting.



TV time! And books, we love books. Mom would be proud. So we put our fancy books down here to show off how much we love books. That's Jaime's Goliath TV, we're thinking about saving up for a flat screen, not because we really need one but because this one is getting a little out of hand :) here you can also see the lovely leather furniture that my dear husband bought before we ever met. That's probably a good thing because I might not have let him do it, but I love it now. Nice accent wall right? Just call us Picasso.



Other side of the room. Another painting that Jaime's aunt did, only this one kinda creeps me out a little bit since the three figures look more like zombies than anything else, but we kinda like zombies a little bit so I guess it fits. My lovely lap top is sitting on the ottoman, it's where I talk to all my imaginary friends on a daily basis, so if you lovely lovely ladies ever wonder where I am when I'm type type typing to you, it's here, on a cozy couch.




Our huge porch that desperately needs furniture of some kind. And another tomato plant, no tomatoes on this one yet. Oh and Mom, the ivy you gave me is flourishing.. you see it?





My beloved staircase and the wonderful art that my husband hung beside it. The painting in the middle is what I got for our anniversary :) Love you Jaime!




Jaime's man cave of sorts. I'm sitting at the computer in here to upload all the photos. Note Jack Daniels (which we like but hardly ever drink) and Metalica (which we LOVE). Oh and more books. More books.



More hallway, my childhood dresser thingy that now holds cleaning supplies, but I didn't tell you that. Bedroom pics will have to wait since it's such a mess :) We're still unpacking stuff in there and setting up my little sewing station so when that is ready for viewing I promise you'll be the first to know.

Now I leave you with really the only important thing in the world. Me. and some chocolate.