Jack

I was able to have lunch with Rosemary today and meet Jack. He is precious! Talk about a good baby. He has a the prettiest eyelashes, loves the ladies and loves the camera. So sweet. I'm still overflowing with joy for Rosie. (Pictured is Cristin and Jack.)

Weekend

We had a really good time watching the Springfield Cardinals yesterday.
I thought the team was great but unforunately they still lost.
Isn't pregnant Breanne so cute? I loved this shirt!
Today Breanne, Monica and I left Springfield and drove to St. Louis for Breanne's baby shower. I am embarrassed to say that we had to go back to our room three separate times after we locked the door to our room because we kept forgetting something. Twice it was my fault! (And compare our picture from today with the one below. Don't we all look so different?)

Girls and baseball

Breanne, Monica and I are taking a road trip to Springfield tomorrow to see the Springfield Cardinals. We'll be spending the night there and then getting up early in the a.m. to drive to St. Louis for Breanne's first baby shower. And since I'm all about nostalgia these days, I'm including a photo of our first all-girl baseball weekend from several years ago.

College Days

Tonight I'm going to an alumni social for my alma mater. I wasn't the most involved college student but I'm hoping it may actually be fun and I love spending time with Monica. (Although Monica and I went to the same college, we didn't officially meet or become friends until after college.) Since I was a commuter, my college-life experience pretty much consisted of class, lunch with hometown friends and the ocassional sleep over in Breanne's dorm room. Even still, I had a very positive college experience. Pictured: Breanne and I during one of our CSC sleepovers in her dorm on the evening of her birthday where I presented her with this and this. (circa 1999)

I heart Joseph

It's no secret that I've been pretty stressed lately. I have too much going on and it's taking its toll on me and my emotions! Joe let me know this morning that I have a massage scheduled for Saturday morning. He took care of all the arrangements and paid; all I have to do is show up. Thank you, Joe!

Such sweet news

I got word from my friend, Rosemary today that her adoption has gone through. This is such a sweet day for her! The whole thing has been drug out in court much too long and she now has the beautiful baby boy she's been waiting for; I couldn't be happier for her. Congratulations!

The sword cane

My fiance wants one of these. What do you say to that? Talk about quirky...

Counting sheep

I don't sleep well. I am a very light sleeper so the softest noises awaken me. Most nights I toss and turn and will wake up several times. And when I'm visiting somewhere or in a strange place I almost never sleep much. The worst nights for me are usually on Sundays. I think it has something to do with going to bed later on Friday and Saturday and so by the time Sunday rolls around my body doesn't want any part of sleeping at my "normal" bedtime. Last night, I was sound asleep when I was jolted out of bed at 3 am by my telephone ringing. It's always alarming to be woken up in the middle of the night by a phone call. I'd only been asleep for about three hours but now my heart was racing. The phone call? It was a wrong number. (And out of habit I usually silence my phone before bed.) Needless to say, I spent the rest of the night tossing, turning and wide awake. My mind was racing with other thoughts for the week. I'm tired of always coming to work tired. I've tried just about everything...warm baths, hot tea, reading. Joe suggested I try earplugs but I'm not sure how I could sleep with something in my ears. Do you have a bedtime routine? How do you sleep well?

Happy.

I had such a great Saturday. Aside from my current place of residence, St. Louis really is one of my very favorite places. I especially love hanging out on the loop which is where Natalie lives. First I met Dorian there for lunch. It had been a year since we'd seen each other which is way too long. By the time I left the restaurant I felt giddy from just talking to her. Then I went to Nat's to hang out and go to the Feist concert. The show was even better than I'd expected it to be. And it's always such a pleasant surprise when you go to a show and end up loving the opener. Hayden opened for Feist and I definitely need to get some of his music now. Beautiful.

Joe and I have barely had the chance to talk this past week. He's been so busy with a work crisis and he really shines when it comes to crisis communications. I'm so proud of him but I hope things ease up for him soon.

In other good news, my cold is almost a distant memory. And most of all today, I'm just happy.

Under the weather

Whatever it is that Joe had last weekend I now have it, too. I am feeling miserable. I hope I'm better for the weekend. I'm headed to St. Louis on Saturday to meet Dorian for lunch and then I'm off to J Crew to return the wedding dress I didn't choose. And then Natalie and I are going to see Feist at The Pageant. I've seen her before but I'm really excited to see her again...so here's to hoping I'm well again soon!

The questions of life

I often count on my friends to help me ponder the many questions of life. And I happen to usually have a strong opinion about these questions of life. (I know, totally hard to believe, right?) So I want to know what my readers think. We'll see how it goes and this may become a regular feature here at girl about town. Below is my current question of life in the form of a statement for you to answer. And, yes, I have a strong opinion. Taina and I first dialogued about this subject weeks ago, maybe months, but the subject just hasn't seemed to die.

Taco Bueno is
	delicious
	barf-alicious
	don't know; never tried it
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Lucky me!

I have a confession to make. I won Alex and Nichole's NCAA basketball bracket pool. I love winning. I'm proud of the fact that not only did I win but, for the most part, my bracket stayed surprisingly intact throughout the tournament. The bad news or the confession here is that I did, indeed, pick Kansas as the winner. I know, I know. How can I live here and pick Kansas? I can only assure you that I am still a true Tiger fan and this had nothing to do with rooting for the team I wanted to win. It had everything to do with picking the team I thought would win. My thought process went something like this, "Argh...Kansas. Hmm, they'll probably win the whole darn thing." And they did. So I went with my gut. I think I happen to have good instincts.

New versus old

Over the weekend, Joe and I went over items we will need and want for our new household together. In the process, I started thinking about furniture I can live without, clothes I can get rid of in attempt to scale down my never-ending closet and the items I can let go of where we already have duplicates. I’ve come to the realization about how sentimental I am about most of my possessions. I guess this is part of the reason I find change so hard – I’m so sentimental.

When people marry after college or when they are much younger I think they probably each have much less. (Joe and I both have our own houses full of “stuff”, albeit mismatched stuff, but we probably both need to scale down.) Registering for items means getting new things together that maybe you’ve never had. Of course there’s plenty that I don’t have and a lot of the stuff I do have is hand-me-downs or just not ideal. For instance, I love my dishes and there’s nothing wrong with them, I just don’t have a complete set. I guess its fine for me to have six of everything because I’m just one person but ideally, I’m told, we need twelve. That makes sense. Don’t get me wrong, thinking about the new stuff is super exciting. I just know that realistically it’s silly to keep the old stuff, too, when and where it doesn’t make sense.

I was talking to a colleague today who is kind of going through the same thing. Over the weekend she moved into a much bigger, much nicer house. She should be ecstatic about the move but she said that even though it’s just across town she found herself teary-eyed and weepy last night when she went by to see her neighbor one last time before officially moving. She told me that she started sobbing in this woman’s kitchen and she said to me as a way of explaining, “I don’t like change.” My friend told me that she’s very sentimental about her house. It was the house where her children have all come home to from the hospital. There are so many memories. Even though she may like new stuff it also makes her sad to think about giving up the old. When my friend starting explaining to me her feelings, I knew she was on to something. That’s exactly how I feel.

I like my stuff. Maybe it’s not new or ideal but for the most part I like it. Giving it away (or at least some of it) may not be easy but I know it’s the right thing to do. I want Joe and me to have a fresh start with lots of new memories to come. Nevermind, getting rid of the clutter and mismatches will be so much nicer for the both of us. And Breanne says that the excitement of getting new stuff together will help ease the pain of letting go of the old. Sometimes I just wish I weren’t so sentimental…but that’s probably a good thing. It’s probably why I feel so heartfelt about my friendships and the people and places I love. I guess it’s just what makes me who I am.

I'm back!

I'm back from my weekend trip to Chicago. Joe was sick while I was there so we didn't do too much but that's okay. Hopefully I will avoid catching whatever he had but was glad to see him nonetheless. We were able to talk and flush out wedding plans. I think we have it narrowed down to the last week in July or first week in August. Hopefully we should have it finalized with the resort later this week.

The other two noteworthy things we did over the weekend consisted of art and eating. First on Friday night my craving took us out for Indian food. It's amazing that if I had the same craving here I could be sitting down at a restaurant 10 minutes later. In Chicago (due to the lack of Indian cuisine on the southside) we drove to the nearest L, parked, got on the train, rode for awhile, got off the train and on another, rode for awhile, got off and walked the remaining several blocks to the restaurant. About two hours later we were there. I'm not sure if or when I'll get used to that! Luckily, our plan is to eventually move to a more central location.

Saturday we went to the art museum for the Hopper exhibit. I really love his stuff. The exhibit included a lot of paintings of houses or man-made objects which he's known for but mostly I love his pieces that include people. I had seen Nighthawks before but that's a painting I could see time and time again and not grow tired of it.

Exhausted

I left my house at 8:30 this morning and returned home for the first time tonight at 10:20 pm. It seems I've been having those weeks lately where I'm on the go every night. I just need some down time. Looks like I'm going to be gone the next three weekends, too. First stop is Chicago.

Oh! My! Gosh!

I just received the following email in my inbox from nkotb.com. Don't judge!

ATTENTION NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK FANS
THE TIME: 7AM EST / FRIDAY APRIL 4th, 2008
THE PLACE: THE TODAY SHOW COURTYARD ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, 48TH/49TH STREET NEW YORK CITY
THE EVENT: BE THERE IF YOU ARE READY...

Quiz time

I thought this was a fun article for current and former Columbians. I scored a 12.

The epitome of Grace

Today is my great, great Aunt Grace's 104th birthday. Despite being legally blind, Grace is still living independently. She is such an amazing person. People are also surprised when I tell them how she's only been in the hospital a couple times. My favorite memories of Aunt Grace are the times when she would "babysit" for me while I was growing up. When my parents and sister would go to a basketball game or somewhere that I had no desire to go, they'd drop me off for a few hours at her senior housing apartment where she still lives. I loved the big magnifying glass over the top of her television screen and the cuckoo clock. We would usually listen to the game on the radio and spend our time eating popcorn. Even today she has a great memory and still loves to listen to sporting events on the radio. She is such a beloved family member - Happy Birthday, Aunt Grace. (Pictured is Aunt Grace and me, circa 1999.)

I think we have a winner!

My package arrived today and inside I think we have a winner! I think I have one dress to take back and one to keep. So far, the keeper is the most "me" out of any of the other dresses I've seen or tried on. Think simple. Think Carolyn Bessette Kennedy-simple.

Not your average girl

Some people have been surprised when I tell them I am eloping. But let's face it, I'm not your average girl. I don't like the color pink, I'm still waiting for my maternal instincts to kick in and I don't want a traditional wedding.

I want the day to be just about Joe and me. I would rather spend money on a great honeymoon and trip than a wedding. And I don't need the added stress of all the hundreds of details that go into the planning for such an event.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's perfectly healthy and normal to want a traditional wedding, it's just not for me. Needless to say, I've been thinking a lot about traditions. (And don't forget to look up the origin of honeymoon because that one is pretty barbaric.) I've never understood most of them or why we do the things we do. Feeding each other cake, garters, tossing rice, etc.

I think most wedding traditions are fun and harmless. The one tradition that I have always been adamently against is the tossing of the bouquet. Call me sensitive but I don't understand why we have to herd all the single girls together so they can catch a bouquet in an attempt that they will be the next one chosen for marriage. As a long-time single gal, I always found that one to be a little insulting and embarrassing. Even more humiliating when you're vying for the bouquet with girls 13 and under. Neither I nor any of my friends ever enjoyed that tradition. Without realizing it, it's like saying that you're not okay unless you're married.

I also understand that today's giving away of the bride represents a showing of parental support for the marriage. But the original giving away of the bride comes from a time when marriage wasn't as much of a choice but the father literally gave away the bride usually in return for something. When Breanne got married she made sure, "Who gives this woman to marry this man?" wasn't a part of the ceremony. She decided by its omission to discretely take the stance that as a mature adult she was marrying Dan of her own free will.

With all that being said, my intentions aren't to offend or to dismiss the importance of tradition and the security that comes from it. I just think that sometimes we need to rethink why we do the things we do. Most importantly, you have to be true to yourself. Sometimes breaking the mold really is okay.