First, there was a birthday...

I know, I know - it's been almost a week...  I'll take a slap on the wrist like a big girl...

And it's only a quick prelude-post until I can get home and sort through aaaalll the pictures (although who knows when that may happen - this is just the MAIL that built up since Thursday!!)

But E and I had a fabulous time with family while we continued my birthday celebrations, we ended the trip with FirstClass travel (!) and are, honestly, quite glad to be out of the 100+ degree heat of central Texas!

(please don't fret, and please hang tight - there'll be so much more tonight!)



Another year, but Forever Young!

Usually, the older you get the smaller your birthday celebrations are.  I think it should be, the older you get - the BIGGER the celebration!

So begins my birthday week!

Sunday night, E had all of our friends and family over for a Birthday BBQ which was a major success, despite the weather's efforts to rain on my parade...

On my actual birthday, yesterday, E made me a seriously fluffy pancake breakfast, complete with fabulous lovey-dovey card.
















Don't forget the fruit!

I was relieved to finally get home to wine and berries later that night after a looong day at work - yes I had to work on my birthday, serious tragedy and yet just a #firstworldproblem...

And even though I'm SERIOUSLY slacking on the whole be-active-and-be-a-beach-body part of the buggy list, I DID NOT forget about the slinky-dress-night-on-the-town part!!!

Dinner...

Drinks...

and one Daring Dress...

Just Epic.

It's been a few days (GASP) since the last post, so I promise big rewards for patient followers!!

A really good friend from over at More Salt flew to NYC to come visit me over the weekend, and let me tell you, did we PAINT THE TOWN RED...

We left our first mark on the town of Seaside Heights, where E's family has a shore house, and where we promptly hit the ground running!


We packed in visits to the beach, the Shore Store, the Aztec AND Beachcomber for some sun, souvenirs, salty beers and salacious crab legs - in that order!

 




The best Girly drinks for girls night are of course, wrapped in girly labels - pink and black!





















And then we switched it up and went with boy colors, because everyone needs some balance! (we mostly just needed the hydration after a day of drinking in the sun!)

 

PHOTO TAKEN BY MORE SALT!

We then traipsed all over NYC:  The journey started in the Upper West Side at La Casa Muffin, and after fueling up at the famous Gray's Papaya, we trekked to Times Square (where we got caught up with the tourist-y vibe and paid SIXTEEN DOLLARS for two beers...)

That was followed by GroundZero and WorldTradeCenter, and then onto the Brooklyn Bridge.  We caught a subway back to Muffin's studio apartment just in time to get changed and rest briefly before heading out to dinner in Chelsea, where the waiter/host/WHOEVER was a hot little piece and verbally delivered the specials like they were sex on a plate... I needed a cigarette after we placed our order!

(Also, you will see no pictures from this time span because 1 - we were big time celebrating being in NYC with lots of wine and limoncello and cupcakes paired perfectly with pinot grigio which led to 2 - that we were WAY too busy living life to worry about recording the memories.  Some memories are better left fuzzy anyways...)

In fact, the next and only other shot I have from the Epic Visit is from a lazy Sunday in Central Park where, after sloughing through some nasty city heat and humidity, we enjoyed some post-hangover bagels and berries:

Delicious Post Script: The weekend was just what the doctor ordered - we commiserated and mourned our losses over some Blue Moons, and then bonded and became, what I'm SURE will be, life long friends.

Hey lady! Yea you - over at More Salt: 

Jersey and NY still don't know what hit 'em!

And you know what?

The marathon of life has handed off to us, on this relay leg at least, a complete shit stick for a baton -  and it was horribly bobbled - NEARLY DROPPED! - in the hand-off, to boot.  

But I sit and remember that there are multiple legs to a relay race - this one WILL end, and we WILL, at some point, be handed a bottle instead of a baton, and be blessed with the opportunity to run the Motherhood Leg.

And then I REALLY remember:

That's just it - it's not a destination you're trying to reach, and it's not a finish line you're trying to cross - it's ALL a journey.  

So sit back and enjoy the ride...

the Shock Factor

To start off with good news, my good blogger friend Wease, and soon to be IRL bestie, at More Salt is coming to visit for 4 days and arrives tonight!!  (I'm so freaking excited, I sit here at my desk at work, dancing like a 3rd grader on a Friday afternoon before a big sleepover!)

Every minute of every day is planned and scheduled with beach time, shopping, paddleboarding, martini time, NYC sight-seeing - and TONS of pictures - GET READY for an epic post on Sunday night from this most-likely exhausted gal!


But this morning turned VERY weird when the pregnant coworker came back into the office in tears.  Said she made an emergency doctor's appointment, she needed to go NOW, she was spotting and having really bad cramping.

I said OF COURSE! Go go, and I hope everything's ok.  And I sincerely meant that, cuz really - who the hell would really wish all of this on their worst enemy?

She text me within the hour to say she'd lost the baby, with a sad Android face, and that she'd be back in on Monday.

Me: "Oh I'm so sorry Asst... not a problem, take time to rest and heal..."

Her: "I go for a scrape on wednesday"

...

..

.

I'm sorry, WHAT?!

I sat and stared at my phone.  I couldn't believe she just said that.  A SCRAPE?!

Inner monologe begins:

Maybe that's what the doctor called it and she's just repeating it because she doesn't know that the term is "D&C."

But really? I don't think a doctor would say, "ok you'll need to schedule a scrape soon..."

So... maybe she's just angry and in shock.

But no, c'mon - even this is a little too much, coming from her... WHAT THE FUCK!?

I've decided to give her the benefit of the doubt - the shock and trauma obviously MUST have really hit her... but sometimes I wonder about people...

***

 

 It rained yesterday - and made cool spider webs catch and keep dew drops, just for me to photograph!

And lots of pretty green grass that caught the rest...

(and no, our lawn is NOT that long - it's some decorative long grass growing in our flower beds... bees or no, E is religious about keeping the lawn mown!)

So I stayed inside and got the ready for Wease to arrive, according to "Bunny Williams' Tips to Prep Your Home for Houseguests" from Country and Living!

Set out some nice flowers (dried counts right??)

Make sure your guest has a nice lamp to read by (just make sure there's oil in this antique hurricane lamp!)

And when I was done sprucing up (ok not much sprucing up was done - mostly took pictures - cleaning still to be done in the 2.5 hours until I run to the airport tonight) I rocked out in my haven:

 

SURPRISE!!

SURPRISE as in, no - it's CD17 and I still haven't even O'd and have had on and off spotting - both days it's been after BDing the night before... My theory is that I'm drinking TOO MUCH pom juice, and my uterus lining is so thick and heavy its coming out of my cervix and when we BD it gets aggrevated.  (I have a very boring job, and a very active imagination. And that story makes me feel alot better than an anovulatory cycle... a girl can dream.  But also, because lo and behold, mid-afternoon the spotting vanishes and leaves me shaking my fist at my uterus. ugh)

Really though, it's SURPRISE as in - we NAILED the surprise party this weekend.  My SIL's husband did a fantastic job getting E down to Seaside Heights on time, and played into the whole "your friends and wife abandoned you this weekened - that happens when you get older and birthdays don't count for as much."

All 24 people in attendance sat in utter silence in the backyard, waiting for what felt like eternity as E and his BIL unpacked the car and bags in hands, made their way slowly down the alley way to the backyard.  (I think I clutched my SIL's arms so hard, finger marks are still there.)

We did it.  We all yelled SURPRISE and he just stopped walking and started smiling really big as he noticed each face that had traveled down for his 30th birthday.  And it was all worth it.

The times where I know he felt I was hiding something (that sucked); and the night before the party when I partied with his sister and friends and felt HORRIBLE that he had to sit at home all alone with his beer and TV shows; and the morning of the party, his ACTUAL birthday, when I didn't call him until noon and he was all peeved that he had to be calling all of his friends to see what they were doing and did they love him enough to come down and maybe barhop with us later.

He cancelled the divorce papers (ha!) and even though he'd told me months before that he would never want a surprise party, E had a kickin' 30th birthday party:

 Complete with fabulous red velvet and coconut cupcakes

And yes, it poured.  But we still had a blast - thanks to a neighbor/friend's canopy, and Hefty garbage bags, as Dee rocked out during beer pong.






Rainy! Rainy! Rainy!


HEFTY!!
HEFTY!!
HEFTY!!

By the end of the night, E and his best friend had finished:
a bottle of Jameson
a bottle of Cafe Patron
a bottle of Jack Daniel's honey

and their dignities, as they ramped up on their drunken testosterone and peed in different corners of the backyard.

Sneaky Peak!

Surprise party pictures to come - blogger's being a pain in the ass... but, aside from the pouring rain, it went flawless! more tonight!

*****

I had to share a quote, from STFU Fertiles, because it really resonated with me, and when people want to say shit like "Well it must not have been the right time" when the miscarriage topic comes up.  ESPECIALLY if they're pregnant or already have kids - what, it was just the right time for YOU?

Here's what STFU has to say about that, and I whole-heartedly agree, because sometimes pregnant women can be smug.

"You didn't get pregnant because you did something right that deserved an award [...] and you didn't get pregnant because your love is so special and magical.
You got lucky.
Whether you appreciate it or not, you got lucky. That's why pregnancy is called a gift, not an award, because it isn't merit-based, or deserved, or earned. It's given."
[more to the quote, but this definitely summed it up for me.]

You're lucky that you can get pregnant easily. 
You're lucky you can maintain a healthy pregnancy. 
You're lucky you "got it on the first time."
You're lucky that you don't have to know what BBTs and OPKs and FWs and CM all stand for.

You're lucky that you didn't have to have saline shot through your uterus and ovaries to make sure they were all clear.

I know, we've all heard the "Well, I'll appreciate my baby more because I had to work hard for it."

I do not agree with that. I know mothers who had an easy time getting pregnant and appreciate and treasure every minute of being a mother.

But to the ignorant masses that had an "accident" and then screamed to the entire public that you're pregnant, at 4weeks none-the-less (hello assistant!? do you hear me?!) and to the coworkers who stroll through and ask me, "K - when do YOU want to have kids?" (how's last year sound?)

We want it NOW.  We're trying.  And if getting pregnant had anything to do with how much the parents WANTED a baby, or how hard they TRIED - well.  Rainbows and Unicorns for everyone!

Quick update before we head down the shore for E's surprise party tomorrow!

We grilled out the other night - deliciousness...

copyright Moments Captured 2012

Had all of E's family over last night for pizza, cake and coffee - with 11 adults and 2 teenager girls, a tornado basically tore through my house for 3 hours and left as soon as it came! (And better yet - I got NO pictures of any of it... cake, candles, gift opening... that's what happens when you hostess his family!)

Hoping to get some great pics this weekend at the surprise party (of which I still think E has no stinking clue!)

Checking out for the weekend, see you all Sunday night - hopefully sunburned, hungover and thoroughly partied out!

***ANDPLUSALSO

I wish I lived in South Africa.   
That is all.

Graeme Moore and his South African swim 'bros' chill out in an ice bath