Friday Five Vol. 7

Here comes this week's five...a random list of things I liked this week.  Hooray!












1.  These Anti-Jokes from Tickld.com
If I had been drinking coffee this morning, I would have spit it all over my desk.  My husband will tell me they're all lame.  They probably are.  But also hilarious.
What's green and has wheels?  Grass.  I lied about the wheels.

What do a duck and a bicycle have in common?  They both have handlebars...except for the duck.

Why isn't Helen Keller a good driver?  Because she's dead.

A gorilla walks into a bar and orders a banana martini.  The bartender thinks this is a little peculiar and then becomes aware he is actually dreaming.  He wakes up from his dream and begins to tell his wife about the ridiculous dream he had.  His wife just ignores him, the man rolls over and begins to sob because he realizes his marriage is in shambles.
I mean...come on!  Those are awesome.

2. Game of Thrones

I mentioned earlier this week that we started watching it On Demand.  We haven't stopped.  We're now halfway through season 2.  Our DVR is getting a little full because we haven't watched anything else.  And we won't until we finish season 4...which I'm not excited about (because that means I'll have to wait with everyone else until season 5...and I don't like waiting).  I said I was trying really hard not to get attached to characters because I know anyone's fair game for some brutal death...but that lasted about 5 minutes.  Tyrion and Daenerys have quickly become my favorites.  Tyrion (whose accent hurts my ears) is hilarious and the Khaleesi is just a total bad ass.  I can't wait to continue our binge this weekend (and yes, I realize this makes 3 weeks in a row that I've mentioned binge-watching a TV show in my five....stop judging me).

3. Paying off Debt.

Today is a big day in House Cooper (see what I did there?) - today we made the last payment on my engagement ring.  It's a nice little weight off our shoulders and the snowball effect is going to be huge.  We realized that by allocating the payment from the ring to another card, the card will be paid off next month instead of 8 months from now. #almostdebtfree #exceptnotreallyatall

4. My outfit yesterday.

Sweatshirt - Blue Marlin | Striped Tee - Christopher J. Banks | Skirt - Charlotte Russe | Tank - Sam's Club

Apologies for the picture.  The lights were out in the bathroom so I couldn't take a mirror selfie.  Had to rely on the forward facing camera on my phone (but I did discover that it now has a timer...score).  I don't care much about the World Cup, but I do like England.  So when the opportunity presented itself for me to wear my Team England jacket, I took it.  That it worked with one of my new skirts was also awesome.  I got a few compliments (and one guy who asked where my cape was...apparently I looked like Superman to him).  Of course, then England had to go and lose, eliminating them from the competition.  Way to go, lads.

5. Family Time

Chad came home early from work 3 days this week.  And that was after he took the whole weekend off.  I've seen more of my husband in the last week than I have maybe ever (not really) - I loved it, but even better, Miles loved it.  Seeing his eyes light up when Daddy walks in is just about the best sight in the world.  And then to top it all off, my mom is in town this weekend!  So Miles and I are going to my grandma's house on Saturday to hang out with them.  It's been over a month since she was here last, so I am very excited (and then in 2 weeks, she'll be back with my dad for 4th of July...it's almost like they didn't abandon me to move so far away)!

And with that, I leave you to enjoy your weekends.  As always, stay Chelish my friends.

A Lovely Throwback Thursday

I love my husband.  He just texted me to say he loved me.  Swoon... :-) So here's a little throwback.

We had been together about a year at this point... We were hanging out at one of our regular summer spots - Sir Richard's Pub aka "The Pub" (which has since been renamed The Blue Gator...lame).  It was $2 you call it night (so the Grey Goose screwdrivers were plentiful...).  I had to move home that summer for my internship, so we only got to hang out on weekends (and only some weekends, because my parents weren't too thrilled about me driving 2 hours back to school every weekend).  Luckily, we were moving in together for the next school year, so we had some incentive to make the long-distance thing work.

That was 8 years ago...and he still texts just to say he loves me.

...but then he also follows it up with "and don't forget to take out the trash and sweep the floor when you get home"...I love you too, babe - muches and mores.

We're gonna make it :-)

My first Jamicure

Remember way back when I did the Jamberry challenge?  Well I finally ordered some product and gave myself my first official Jamicure.  I did this one with a blow-dryer, but it ended up being a total pain, so I'm glad I ordered the mini-heater for next time.

Here's day 1:

The wraps I used were Orchid Ombre and Pink & Purple Peacock.  I kind of rushed when I was applying them, and as I said, I was using a blow-dryer, so I kept dropping them on the floor and they would get dust on them, so I have a few bumps and chips that resulted from that, but otherwise, a week later they're still holding strong!
Day 7:

I want to figure out a better way to trim them.  I used kitchen shears the first time (probably not my best idea, but it worked well) and nail scissors this time.  The nail scissors were tiny and harder to maneuver than the shears, if you can believe it - so the result was not as great.  I also cut a few of the wraps too short before applying them, so I have to work on that.  I've heard a nail file is actually the best way to trim the edges, so I think next time I'll try that out.  

I've got 6 more designs coming any day now.  I think the hardest part about this will be making myself get my money's worth out of them - the wraps will last 2 weeks, so I need to force myself not to change them too early because it's so much fun to come up with new combinations of designs...

And with that, I'm ready to finish up this work day a little early (because I had to come in at 6 am...ugh), head home, play with this guy,

and watch some more GOT & eat some ice cream once Chad gets home.

It's a good day to be Chelish...

Let's Play Catch Up...

Hello dear readers...have you missed me?  I took last week off because I was out of town at a work conference and my hotel room had no internet connection.  It. Was. Awful.  It gave me a good excuse to not keep up with "real" work and just focus on conference stuff while I was there, but it also meant I was a slacker on my link ups and posts and follows and all things bloggy.  Now it's back to life as usual (mostly - I mean, I started this post on Monday, but still didn't have time to finish it until today - being away from the office with no internet access makes for a lot of catch up work when you return).

Because I was at my conference last week, it meant there was a significant amount of time away from lil man.  This also means that I went picture crazy when I returned.  Unfortunately, allergy season is in full swing and Miles seems to have inherited his mother and father's exceptionally terrible hay fever.  So Children's Allegra has made an appearance, but it has not stopped the constant flow from his nose (which is exactly what you wanted to hear).
We also had a great weekend, because Chad had 2 whole days off in a row.  That happens so rarely so we tried to make the most of our time and spent both days out of the house (that happens even less, I think).

Saturday was an especially exciting day because it was first haircut day!  Our little mop top really needed it, but I had to hold back the tears as he transformed into a big boy right in front of my eyes.

We also had some shopping to do, so we headed over to our local mall.  It's a very tiny mall, but we ended up spending over 2 hours in it because Miles fell asleep and we didn't want to interrupt his nap.  We got to have lunch at the new Mark's Gourmet Dogs, which was featured on Food Court Wars on the Food Network.

Sunday was Father's Day, of course.  After breakfast, we decided to head out away from the house again for the day.  First stop was the East Lansing Farmer's Market (with a quick stop to Biggby on the way to use the Father's Day BOGO coupon).  Our amazing timing meant that upon our arrival at the market, we ended up waiting in the car for a half hour waiting for another nap.  Oh well - at least he's getting them!  The farmer's market was pretty disappointing.  There were less than 20 stalls.  It took us about 3 minutes to walk up and down them all. So, we headed back out to the mall - but decided to go to the slightly bigger one across town this time.
Chad has been very supportive of me upping my fashion-game, so over the course of the weekend, I got to pick up a few new items for my closet which I'm very excited about - 3 maxi skirts, a fedora, and some tan flats.  I will be a fashionista someday (or at the very least, slightly above completely clueless)!

Fedora / Striped Maxi (similar) / High-Waisted Knit Maxi / Pleated Maxi

I was a nice wife and took Chad for Chinese Buffet for dinner.  I generally don't like Chinese food - but it was Father's Day.  We were also right by his favorite restaurant, so what the heck, right?  It actually wasn't too bad.

Once we got home, we just hung out with little man until he fell asleep (around 8:30, which he has done ON HIS OWN for the last 3 days - it's been amazing!)

Finally, this weekend we decided to start watching Game of Thrones.  After everyone telling us how much we were missing out on, we figured it was finally time. We were both pretty much instantly hooked.  We stayed up way too late watching 2 episodes on Sunday night, then Chad came home early yesterday and we watched 5 (!) more!  Unfortunately, this also means that now the spoilers on facebook actually mean something and I have to work extra hard to avoid them (life is rough, people).  I'm also working extra hard not to form any attachments to characters, because I know the nature of the show, and that no one is safe.  I'm sure I won't be successful and the first major death will be a huge disappointment to me.

Anywho, enough of my rambling.  Hopefully I'll be back to a regular schedule after this update and you can all keep up on all things Chelish (no matter how mundane).  

Friday Five - 6/6/14

1) Orange is the New Black

Season 2 comes out today!  Binge watching to commence tonight! (that is...as long as we can get netflix to work...it seemed to be down yesterday.  But I'm thinking positive - I will watch OITNB tonight!)

2) Free Bagel Friday

I was real hungry when I got to work this morning.  I was ready to eat my lunch at about 8 am.  Luckily, one of our customers brought in bagels from Panera.  I had a delicious chocolate chip bagel with plain cream cheese.  Yum. 

3) This pink bunny that hangs out on my desk at work

#throughglass

because...bunnies.

4) Google Play Music

It's Friday.  I'm going to a conference next week.  My brain has shut down and I'm having a ton of trouble focusing on work.  Luckily, I have my phone, a pair of headphones and Google Play Music All Access.  Jamming to Robyn, Demi Lovato, Eric Hutchinson, *NSync, Jessie J, & MC Mr. Napkins is helping to keep me on track for one. more. hour.

5) Making new friends
Chad and I have been working with a financial advisor to set up some new life insurance and a college fund for Miles.  Well, she's actually our age and we had been getting along really well at our meetings, so we decided to invite her and her fiance on a group camping trip later in the summer.  I'm excited because we don't haven many local friends, so someone (two someone's actually) new to hang out with is exciting.

And that's it for this week.  I'm extending my positive thinking to the Tigers tonight.  They WILL win this series against Boston.  They WILL.

Stay Chelish, dear readers....

Remembering Kay

I came into work this morning, ready to write a post about road rage - still hot from an encounter on my drive to work.  Then I realized what day today was and decided to save road rage for another time.

Today is June 5th.  Not a particularly special day to most (unless you're keen on celebrating National Gingerbread Day), but a significant one for me.  One year ago today, my beautiful grandma left this earth.

Katherine "Kay" Kloss
August 4, 1925 - June 5, 2013

She had been sick for a long time and we were expecting it, but it didn't make it any less painful when it happened.

Grandma was a tiny Sicilian woman with a huge heart.  A heart full of love for her family.  She was the epitome of a matriarch. 

When I say she was tiny, I'm not kidding either.  As I was growing up, she would keep pushing my shoulders down to keep me from getting taller than her.  No luck, Grandma.  As I got taller, she seemed to get shorter - all of her grandkids had outgrown her by the time we were about 10 years old :-)

I loved staying with her when my parents went out of time, or just for a night because I wanted to.  Eating soup out of those little blue bowls, pickles sliced in half, cucumbers cut into tiny spears with salt, no ice...ever, peeled apples, the brown chair, easter egg hunts and egg conking, christmas pinatas and oplatek, licorice - a lot of food memories, but I suppose that's to be expected in an Italian household :-)

 I will always cherish this photo.  It's not only the obligatory 4-generation picture, but it's the day she got to meet her first and only great-grandson.  She was so proud - she held onto him from the moment we walked in the door until we left.   No one was allowed to take her baby that day, and that was ok with us.  I wish Miles had gotten to know her as I did, but I'm so glad that she got to meet him.
She was so excited for his arrival.  After we heard the heart beat for the first time and felt 'safe' to go public with our news, she was the first person I called.  Each time we talked during those 9 months, she asked all about the baby and the pregnancy - how are you feeling?  have you felt any kicks?  when's your due date? Her memory wasn't the best at this point, but this was one thing she didn't forget.  She didn't get out much, but she made the trip to my baby shower.
She had a wall of pictures of all her grandkids, but when Miles came along, those pictures all got covered with pictures of him.  During her last stay at the hospital, I made sure her room had his newest pictures hanging on the wall.  She only met him once, but he certainly made an impression on her heart.

I love you Grandma.  I miss you so much, but I know you and Grandpa are with me (and Miles) everyday.

Momma & Miles Monday/A Sleepy Tuesday Tale

This post is coming slightly late because someone was not into going to bed all night.  I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised.  He was a crabby patty, pretty much from the moment we got home from daycare.  You see, finally, after 14 months, Miles is teething.

I would consider myself to have been lucky with Miles' sleep patterns up until this point.  He is not a great sleeper, though he's also not a bad sleeper.  From the beginning, he was generally easy to get down and only woke up once or twice a night, so I was always able to get good stretches of sleep, but he also didn't sleep through the night consistently until about a month or so ago.  So...middle of the road I'd say.  Of course, I'd choose middle of the road over bad sleeper any day.  I've heard the woes of my mom friends with terrible sleepers and I do not envy them in the least.  Because we've had relatively good luck with sleep, those nights that are not as good are so. much. harder.  Last night was one of those nights.

We decided to start some light sleep training when Miles turned one.  We implemented a regular bed time (9:30 - still too late in my opinion...we're working on it, but we don't eat dinner until 7:30 so an earlier bed time is really hard) and started putting him to bed awake.  For the first few days, this meant we had to let him cry a little.  I was very adamant about a 5 minute time limit on crying.  I won't ever do the "Cry It Out" method, it's just not my style.  The first night went amazing.  He fell asleep on his own after 3 minutes (this was a major - and welcome - change from rubbing his back for 45 minutes and sneaking out of the room, only to have him wake up when his door creaked slightly and having to repeat the process).  He also stayed asleep for the whole night.  We repeated the process the next day, he cried for about a minute and then stayed asleep.  This continued for a week, we had a couple days of regression, but got back into the routine and it's been working pretty well for us for the last two months - most nights he doesn't cry at all.  I lay him down, he goes to sleep, he stays asleep.  It had even gotten to the point where if he would wake up in the middle of the night, he could put himself back to sleep (unless he was in desperate need of a new diaper).  It has been great.  But again, now that I've gotten used to the routine, any deviation is rough.

So as I said, he was pretty cranky yesterday.  He was also "playing" by just laying on the couch, chillaxin'.  He was giving all his "ready for bed" cues by about 8:30.  I figured it would be another easy bedtime, and perhaps even an early one.  I even told Chad I was going to take a shower after he went to sleep (score!)  Wrong.  I put his PJs on him and all of a sudden he's awake.  So we wait til 9:30.  He's still awake, but it's bedtime, so up he goes.  He was not having it.  I had to stand there and try to rub his back for about 30 minutes, but most of the time he was actually walking around his crib trying to play.  I decided to try and leave the room and see if he would just go to sleep on his own.  As soon as I walked out, there was some very pissed off screaming going on.  5 minutes  I walked back in and started the process again.  I finally got him to sleep after another 10 minutes or so.  But as soon as I closed the door (as silently as I could), awake.  I decided to wait it out for a minute - the kid was clearly overtired and wanted to sleep.  But Chad thought I had gotten into the shower already so he came up to comfort Miles after only about 30 seconds.  Miles wouldn't calm down, so Chad left me to it again.  Miles could not be comforted so I gave in and pulled out the Motrin.

I know he's teething, I know he's probably in pain and this will help him, but I always second guess myself when I go to the meds to help.  My biggest problem is that while he was cranky, he didn't act like he was in pain prior to bedtime.  It was only when I put him in the crib that the real problems started, so is Motrin really necessary?  I don't know.  But whether it was the Motrin or pure exhaustion, he finally went to sleep about 20 minutes later.  And he stayed asleep the rest of the night.  He woke up once around 6 am, but he put himself right back to sleep.

It had taken over an hour.  A routine that usually takes 2 minutes took 75.  But I know I'm still lucky - it certainly could have been much worse.  It was now quarter to 11 but of course, I had promised myself a shower at that point - I was getting one.  I'm also one of those people who values sleep much more in the morning than at night, so if I get the choice to do something before bed or when I wake up, I'm always choosing before bed.  I hit the snooze button for 45 minutes after my initial alarm goes off and I don't get out of bed until 15 minutes before I have to leave for work.  And I was stressed and sore from leaning over the crib giving back rubs, so I stayed in the shower for as long as I could.  It was wonderful.  But that meant that I didn't go to sleep until midnight.  And then of course, the dog had to get up and go out in the middle of the night and she refuses to let Chad take her, so I was up at 1:30 doing that, trying not to fall asleep standing up.  And then, to top it all off, in the middle of my snooze cycle, at least 20 minutes before I was mentally prepared to get up, the alarm on his monitor started to go off.  So I shot out of bed - only for it to be a false alarm (though I welcome false alarms over real ones any day...).

this about sums it up...

just laying on the couch...playing with my easter eggs.  nbd.

yep...that's about how i feel today too, bud.

here's hoping today (tonight) is a little better.

stay chelish, friends.