See you at the patch.

Fall is in full swing around here! I’m sure you are all rejoicing in the fact that you could take your sweaters and boots out of storage like I am. Gavin was a fabulous assistant, and rode around in his little ERGObaby pack while I did my semi annual closet project. It took a little longer, but with his help, the closets have been switched in this house! Summer went upstairs and down came the cozy and cuddly fall/winter wardrobe, complete with scarves and booties. Speaking of – how do you store your scarves? May I suggest this little miracle worker? One of my fellow mommy friends discovered it during one of her Amazon Prime shopping sprees while she too was on maternity leave. (We have since both agreed that Prime is dangerous when you stay at home! I also ordered a shoe organizer but in my hurry to satisfy my starvation to shop I failed to realize it was way too large for any closet I have! But another perk of Prime is free returns... so the cycle continues.) Anyways, my scarves were previously folded into a useless bin and now, I can see them all at once! Even better, this actually doesn’t fit in my closet, so it must be housed in the husband’s… it just allows me to spread out even more and control every possible inch of square footage in this house.

A perfect place to wear your favorite scarf and other fall clothes is… you guessed it… the pumpkin patch! I realize this is not an original idea – I have seen tons of your adorable photos and everyone's patch looks have been so cute! My patch outfit this year was pretty basic; it wasn’t very cold, so I didn’t have the opportunity to bust out a scarf or hat, but I was pleased that I could wear my Hunters. These are definitely a staple for all wardrobes, especially a Washingtonian. I promise they are worth the $$! You can spot them at pumpkin patches, football games, and I know they will be making appearances at Christmas tree farms in a couple of months! If you don’t have your own pair yet, check them out here – pick your fave color and they will be on your doorstep by the end of the week. Don't forget a pair of liners too! You can thank me later. (Read one of my first blog posts ever here, when I first purchased my Hunters 4 years ago- oh the memories!) 

If you need a basic scarf to wear with everything, including your Hunters, the tissue weight cashmere-wool blend ones by Nordstrom are my favorite. They last forever and so it is no wonder I own multiple colors - check out the rainbow of offerings here. I have my eye on the bordeaux (Nordstrom online calls it "dark purple") one on the left. 

Someone who did get excited about his patch look was… the husband. I’m not really sure who’s style he was channeling; all I know is he wore his chambray shirt with a Carhartt vest – and you know how I feel about the C word.

He wasn’t hard to beat, but cutest boy at the patch was a tie between Gavin in his pumpkin hat and our friend Wyatt in his own kids size Hunter boots. See, they are a must-have for the little tikes too!

Back to the patch. There we were, major new-bees. This is another one of those first-time-parent moments. I suppose most people will become parents and will have… experienced a pumpkin patch before. Not us. See, we prefer to get our pumpkins at the grocery store. We are all about the convenience. We never carve them either. We go through this same anti-attitude at Christmas and Easter too. This was the first year we dyed Easter eggs and it was almost a bust when I only had balsamic vinegar instead of regular (and I thought it would be ok to use – good thing I was corrected). Christmas is another time of year where we really reign in the field trips and stick to Safeway and its peers. In 4 years of Christmas tree shopping, at least we have diversified our purchases amongst 4 different grocery stores. Last year, we really patted ourselves on the back when we went to the small, local gourmet grocery store. We felt that was practically the farm and were extra pleased when they offered to give the (probably month-old tree) a fresh cut! However, like always, by the time we woke up on Christmas morning, we pulled our presents out from beneath a very dead tree. Whomp whomp. 

The husband wanted to do our usual lame routine this year, and even suggested we take photos of Gavin at the STORE, pretending it was a pumpkin patch! I have to admit – at first, I agreed. But then I had this strange guilt that our 1 month old would surely remember his first Halloween picking a pumpkin in a parking lot while his parents filled their cart with meat and produce and I couldn’t get past it. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally convinced the husband to accompany us to the pumpkin patch. I received a few choice comments, especially when I gave the wrong directions, there was no parking, blah blah blah. As if he plans everything to a tee? I think not. He also insisted on driving the truck versus the Prius so he would “feel less lame.” He was definitely feeling a little less lame a few minutes later, when he happily snacked on hot roasted corn on the cob and fresh kettle corn. Such treats are not available at the local grocer, I assured him. There was also a little petting zoo; this didn’t really impress either of us (especially because I can see a duck any old time and they are not a favored animal in this Husky home), but it was an added element that again is not featured when you shop at Safeway.

So, if you need it, here are the top 5 reasons you should pumpkin patch it within the next week or so:

• ·      You will have a reason to bust out your Hunters for their 2013 season debut
•       Take your pick from traditional, minis (you know I love them!), sugar pumpkins, ghost pumpkins, yellow pumpkins… shop til you drop!
• ·      The best patches have yummy snacks that literally taste like fall
• ·      It will get you at of the house long enough to miss almost an entire football game (Wives and girlfriends everywhere: rejoice! Even us football fans can use a break.)
• ·      Your new social media profile picture will be way cuter with a real pumpkin patch in the background instead of a parking lot with shopping carts

Mommyhood... so far...

Fashionistas! I am thrilled to introduce you to my new mini (male) fashion plate… Gavin Patrick! The punctual little man arrived on his due date (9-11-13) – the very best day the husband and I have ever had - and has been entertaining us ever since. We love everything about him, and of course, I especially love dressing the little peanut. Styling the tiniest of outfits is a daily joy! Just as we do, babies can really dress for occasions. Also, as we do, they may wear multiple outfits in a day.

Actually, I don’t know why people say that babies don’t need that many clothes. I heard over and over “Oh, he’ll never wear that” and “They really don’t need that much when they are little.” This is a lie. Don’t listen! And I’m not just saying that because I love changing his clothes and making new looks; he’s like a real doll! (Selecting the outfits for his newborn photo shoot brought me back to my glory days of personal styling at Nordstrom - this was just for a very tiny customer! Note the teensy white collared shirt below... can't even stand it) I’m telling you the truth, because unless you want to do six loads of laundry per day, your baby needs a lot of clothes. I don’t have time to be the maid and the mommy, so I would rather the babe has a complete wardrobe than spend my very limited free time (drinking champagne) in the laundry room.

Though he is just a month old, we have had several important outings. Most, obviously, are retail destinations. They are warm, dry, flat, lovely places to walk that have great eye candy as well. We have frequented Nordstrom (multiple locations), Target and other favorites. I loved shopping before, but I have to admit, it is a whole new high to shop with a fabulous stroller and a darling baby inside. Plus, there is great storage for your purchases!

However, the stroller situation does add an extra challenge to the regular shopping trip, and even an experienced shopper like me has a steep learning curve with this apparatus. This is no new handbag that one can easily toss your wallet in and move on – it is a whole endeavor with pieces, parts, clicks and manual labor!

My first time out with the Bugaboo (details featured here – it really is a great stroller), I patted myself on the back after I unloaded it from the back of the Prius, assembled the 2 parts together, and loaded in the baby. We rolled into Nordstrom where we enjoyed a luxurious afternoon – I had been away for 2 weeks and it felt oh so good to be back. I should have known the whole thing was too good to be true. Back to the parking lot, and all hell broke loose. As the wind nearly blew me over, I could not get the top part off the stroller base. After a frantic call to the husband where he basically told me to push the button in (genius, I know), the stroller was back in 2 pieces. Success! Again, I spoke to soon. Now, I cannot get the base to fold down. I call the husband again, and this time he says “I don’t really know how to explain it.” NOT the right answer. So, I threw the whole thing standing straight up in the car and raced home, instructing him to meet me in the driveway for a serious tutorial.

Two weeks later, I am capable of locking and loading the stroller. This is still not a smooth process, but at least I can see out my rearview mirror because the thing folds down. Anyways, I asked the husband (see the rare sighting of him above in our first formal family photo - he looks so sweet but wait 'til you see what he does next) to please put the stroller in the car for me one morning. While I appreciated him completing this task, I did not appreciate when he came back inside and sheepishly said, “Um, I can fix it for you later, but I think that maybe when you went on your walk yesterday you might have rolled the stroller through some dog poop” (all while avoiding eye contact). “What!” I shrieked. “You think I’m suppose to go meet my girlfriends at Nordstrom for lunch with dog poop all over the wheel?” Not to worry – he assured me that it was dry. And he would hose it off. Later. As in like the next day. Unacceptable! I let him know I would take care of it myself. And I think I added in one of those sweet phrases like, “since I have to do everything around here.” You know, one of those signature ones that really reflects what a nice person I am. 

As I prepared for this disgusting duty, I remembered that I don’t know how to use the hose. I know this because this summer I drenched my pregnant self while attempting to water the husband’s pepper garden (which never actually yielded a pepper I got to taste, so clearly that was time well spent of mine). So, knowing that I don’t have the time or patience to learn to use the hose properly, I decided to use something I’m more familiar with – bottled water. I took a bottle of water out to the car, opened the trunk and gingerly set the aforementioned poop wheel out the edge of the back. Then, I proceeded to dump a whole bottle of water on it. Realizing I needed a little more “umph,” I grabbed a wad of paper towels and another bottle of water. It was nearly clean, except for some remnants in the grooves. Not wanting to leave the job incomplete, I resourcefully located a twig in the yard and finished the job. And, I still had half of the second water bottle. Not too shabby! Another opportunity for this new mommy to pat herself on the back.

These are the adventures in mommyhood so far… I really do like the stroller (how cute does it look here? this was from our dog-poop-free walk today in the fabulous fall weather), but I do recommend that people practice before going out in public. Luckily, Gavin just enjoys the ride (in his cute outfits), and doesn’t notice the obstacles his mother endures. But, as us fashionistas know, it pains to be beautiful. And in this case, this beast of a stroller can just be a pain. But, this sweet face in this sweet set of wheels is worth it! Happy strolling, fashionistas. 

It's almost time for baby! (and fall fashion, too!)

The last time I wrote, the fashionista in me rejoiced as I realized one more department in Nordstrom would now be MINE to shop… a whole other area to learn and conquer was at my fingertips, as shopping for a baby BOY commenced. What a shopping spree it has been! (Some of my favies are stacked up on the left - who can resist chevron and sweaters?!) Now, we are days away from meeting this little guy, and I am proud to report his sweet mint-colored dresser has drawers filled to the top; his closet has multiple rods featuring tiny hangers that are nearly as cute as the clothes; and finally, his shoe collection rivals… well of course not mine, but maybe the husband’s (I can't wait until he fits into these!).

Speaking of the husband, he has been a real champ these last 39 weeks; though I have undoubtedly tortured him with my “hound dog” sense of smell (isn’t that an affectionate term he dubbed months ago?) and the Antarctic environment I have insisted on keeping in every joint environment (the car, house etc all must be kept at sub-zero temperatures, which leads him to freeze while I sweat), he has taken it in stride – volunteering to eat his smelly burritos on another floor of the house, tolerating goosebumps, and more.  He even custom-built a crib for the baby, and it only took him a few weeks to do it! (That’s my positive spin on “You have known this baby was coming for 8 months and you waited until the very last minute to build his crib.” And that sentence is the positive spin on the relentless nagging I did all summer that featured 4-letter words. Oh, the joys of marriage. Enough said.)

So, as you can see, the dad to be has been preparing too. So much so, he took himself to the mall a couple of weeks ago and had a little shopping spree of his own. I didn’t even know he knew where the mall WAS, since his entire wardrobe has been hand delivered to him for the last 5 plus years by the gifted personal shopper he is lucky to call his wife. But, miracles do happen, and off he went, to a MALL on a WEEKEND! (This was obviously before football season started.) And what does he come home with? His own “delivery outfit.” He tells me he needed a hospital wardrobe too…. Convenient that mine will feature a used robe with a hideous print, and he will be rocking brand new Nike Frees and Under Armour pants (running pants no less - ironic for him) – which he made sure to tell me are “sterile.” He also picked up a few new t shirts and a striped sweater/sweatshirt type number (probably because he will be cold).  Spoiler alert – you may see the t-shirt featured in a future post or photo featuring a little special surprise he added on…

Don’t fret though, fashionistas – I did extensive research on the all-important post-natal wardrobe, and picked up a few things for yours truly as well.  Actually, I dedicated a whole day to this project, and am pretty pleased with the results; I’ll let you know how it turns out! I must admit, especially after a long, hot summer, I’m looking forward to my mostly-black, Mary-Kate Olsen-esque loose look – convenient that we are descending into fall, which you know equals yummy chunky sweaters (this one is awesome and on sale now!) and leggings as well. I have to thank the babe for timing his arrival during such prime season for hiding the unwanted “extra love” that may be lingering.  I can tell this kid is already going to be a charmer! He knows what women want! (Speaking of - here is the link to the all black baby bag we will be wearing with our cute fall wardrobe and boots.)

So besides our 2 apparently perfect wardrobes, I read we should also bring some snacks to the hospital – not really sure why, but I do what the cute pregnant girl blogs say.  Thinking that would be a good job for the husband, he went off to the store about 9pm one night and came home with some milky ways for himself. First of all, I have tried explaining that milky ways are indeed the grossest chocolate candy there is. Who likes them? Second, he will be washing them down with those little 5 hour energy drinks he calls “5 hour booyas.” Whatever – he did pick up the luna bars and trail mix I requested.  I also texted him saying I wanted some chicken – to eat that evening. Not fried. Not fast food. But just some form of cooked chicken.  This was odd, as I am not a huge meat eater, but this pregnancy has made me a little more carnivorous. I have developed a disgusting addiction to French fries, but never requested a protein. Lucky for both of us Safeway still had warm roast chickens! I didn’t really want a WHOLE roast chicken, but the husband does not come home empty handed!

All in all, we will be waltzing into the hospital any day now looking like we are going on a week’s vacation. Between our mini cooler (featuring scented washcloths and individual champagnes), tote bag of food, and each of our own “overnight” bags (we all know I packed for more than 1 night!), this will be quite the sight. Wish us luck!

Mini!

Shortly after my last post (I know I know – way too long ago – I AM much more consistent with much else in my life – swiffering, cleaning my jewelry, rearranging my shoes – all of life’s important things), I got the best surprise ever. I’m talking BEST surprise – like Oprah screaming “You get a car! And you get a car! And YOU get a CAR!” And, if you’ve never seen that episode of Oprah, well, I’m more than happy to let you borrow my Oprah DVDs to let you enjoy that magical moment for yourself.

Similar to that momentous Oprah show, this surprise ranks right up there with someone telling you, oh I don’t know, you’re getting a Chanel handbag for free. I’ve never heard of that happening – even on Oprah. Do you get the level of pure ecstatic unspeakable JOY I’m talking about now? Like so exciting you can’t even STAND it?! Good. Now I can tell you the secret that’s not so secret anymore. This fashionista is having a baby! That’s right! A WHOLE OTHER TINY PRESON TO STYLE AND DRESS. With a WHOLE ROOM TO DESIGN. (Amongst other things, of course.) To top it off, this mini adorable wildchild human growing right now is a little BOY! A MiniMarshall, as I have taken to calling him. Will he be a mini-husband?! Probably. The good news is, he’s going to start his life off a lot better dressed.

So that is the best surprise ever that changed my life right when we were ringing in my new favorite year known as 2013. Here are a few fun tidbits of life with MiniMarshall thus far:

•      As you may or may not know, the husband is an emotional (but darling) wreck who has cried maybe more than his hormone-raged wife these last 5 months. He normally pairs his tears with a drink of choice – his friend Jamieson has helped him out a few times, and not 1 but 2 martinis were needed when we learned Mini was a BOY!
• ·     Hormones are kind of the best thing ever, because they get you out of everything. Tired? Hormones. Hungry? Hormones. Just feel like yelling at the husband? Hormones for sure! Can’t seem to make it from the couch to the kitchen to get your 9^th glass of fizzy water (which will never ever come close to replacing wine) and so you shed a tear or 2 to get “someone” to do it for you? Shoot, the hormones strike again!
• ·    I knew Mini was a boy. I am putting it in writing so maybe some day when his mother is rich and famous he will stumble across this lame blog and… I will feel validated that I was right! I knew it was a boy, so therefore I deserve a crown for already having that “motherly instinct” everyone keeps talking about. Crown aside (make sure it has diamonds and looks like Princess Kate’s), I really didn’t have the instinct, but I had this thing called an ultrasound. I’m not saying I SAW the boy parts. Any goofball could do that - I was the loser who couldn’t even see his feet. (Seriously, the kid has huge feet and I just pretended to see them until we left and I could figure it out myself. They were kicked back and resting – so obvious! What fetus wouldn’t be chilling out like that?) When we had an ultrasound early on, I knew this was a boy. Why? Because he was fist pumping! He had moves JUST like the husband’s. I don’t lie about Mini. He was in the womb, dancing around like a NUTCASE. And that’s when I knew.
• ·    I confirmed Mini was a boy several few weeks later, at the next ultrasound – again, I didn’t see the magical boy area, but this time, he was standing on his head the whole time. This further confirmed the craziness that is my future son. He was just the size of a bell paper, but he already had a much larger attitude.  The poor ultrasound technician was just trying to do her job, confirming he had normal baby stuff, like arms and legs. Of course, my child (in this case, the husband’s Mini for sure), had to be on his head. The entire time. Laying on his left arm.  Hiding it from us. Much to the tech’s dismay, we could not get o-stubborn-one to move around. This led me to believe for about 30 minutes that Mini did not have a left arm! This also led me to believe he was a boy, because no girl would be so uncooperative on a deadline. Finally, the tech finds the arm, hand, thumb and everything and she is so relieved (as am I – duh!). She proceeds with the appointment, and right when we are wrapping up, he starts WAVING his left hand around. I felt like he was saying, “Hey, freaks! Here’s my arm! Don’t know what you were looking for, bozos.”
• ·  Sure enough, an hour later, we were served a dessert covered in blueberries and my suspicions were confirmed… BOY. We were going to have a dancing, fistpumping, upside down, naughty, wild little boy! So, I gobbled down the dessert and like any good fashionista (oh and um parent) I went on a 3 day bender shopping spree.

I will share the tricks and trades of producing a fabulous and functional baby wardrobe in another entry, but here are some of my favorite pieces to wet your appetite. There are sure to be more, because I literally buy something 1-7 times per week. I’m not even going to get into how close my new office is to the best ever babies section at Nordstrom. Between that and the refrigerator and bathroom being just steps away, work is totally this mama-to-be’s paradise.

To say the least, Broke-O for Coco is getting broke-o from a whole new sector of shopping. Have you seen the strollers out there these days?! And did you know Burberry has baby line? Just sayin.

Signing off,

Broke-O and… MiniMarshall