My Dallas Weekend

This weekend has a long time comin'.

We drove right after work to Dallas, stopping at the Rib Crib for some delicious barbecue. We pulled up to our swanky hotel.

We went to bed feeling fancy in our room and ordered room service for breakfast. Well, not that fancy because we split one breakfast between us.

The next day, I had a knife skills class. Baller!

We had sushi for lunch. Don't murder me: I had shrimp tempura. And lots of edamame.

We shopped at a gigantic mall (four floors and an ice skating rink). Where I decided to chop off all my hair. So fun!

Then we went to our date night cooking class. And learned how to be fancy.

And not cook raw scallops. Even Gordon Ramsey would be impressed.

The next day, we woke up and went straight for IKEA, our favorite furniture store. We had fun playing house and thinking about redesigning kitchens and all the things we "need" but can't fit in our little car.

We hit the outlets, so we could shop for great deals on nice clothes. Bryan stocked up on professor shirts for the fall. I got Brooke some cute things from JCrew for her birthday. And of course, a few things for the baby. Most of the time, I was wishing I was back to my size 4 and could buy up everything. Le sigh.

The drive back was nice. We enjoyed talking about philosophy and recycling and prayer and the baby and the fall semester. I like road trips with Bryan. He really is an awesome companion.

We spent the remainder of the weekend sleeping for 11 hours at a time (we still got it!), chopping veggies with our new knives and new skills, napping, watching all the tv we missed, napping some more. And making some creme brulee.

We do our weekends right.

Pregnancy Update

Baby Size: Cantaloupe, 6.5 inches

How Far Along: 20 weeks (minus one day)

Total Weight Gain: 14 pounds. My boy is growing a lot, and I was concerned, but I've been eating healthy and walking often. My body is going to do what it needs to do. I am at peace with the gain. This is not the time to diet or to worry about what I can do to slow the gain. I'm continuing to eat veggies and fruits and walking. That's all I can do. I'll lose it and worry about it later.

Sleep: I'm sleeping wonderfully. I can sleep in, wake early, stay up later. I'm so pleased that I've somehow missed the wake-up-four-times-a-night boat.

Food cravings: popcorn - I love our air popper. Just toss in kernels, turn it on and eat it up with a little salt.

Food aversions: Chinese food. Probably because I ate SO much in China.

Symptoms:
A big belly! This week I definitely FEEL pregnant. I LOOK pregnant.

Exhaustion - When we were walking this weekend, I felt the need to sit down or (to Bryan's embarassment) plop on the floor in the middle of stores. Yes, storeS.

Doctor's Appointment: Today. Everything is great. My nurse is impressed with how good I'm feeling and my good mood. I was less impressed with my gain, but she told me that it's normal and that he's going through a growth spurt. Our baby is very healthy: no Down's, no mutations, nothing abnormal. In fact, I won't even have another ultrasound because he's basically no risk. My belly is measuring on track, and I feel great though I do feel large.

From the front, I don't look pregnant!

Movement: I feel him all the time! Mostly, right after I eat something (he can feel the sugar levels increase), but I feel him moving. I have felt only two kicks, but I feel him all the time. I love it! Bryan has been able to feel him, too. It's crazy!

Gender: BOY! So excited. I thought he was a boy, and he is a boy! I cannot wait to meet him.

Best moment of the week: the whole weekend in Dallas with Bryan. We had a sweet romantic time, and we got to do what we do best: shop! And eat. And buy a weird board game and play it drunk (just Bryan) in our undies at the hotel.

What I'm looking forward to: our trip to Chicago! We leave tonight, so I can't post a picture tomorrow. Today it is!

What I miss: Seeing my 120s and 130s on the scale.

What I've bought for baby this week: SO MUCH! This was a baby-buying weekend. We bought a crib, a mattress, sheets, a changing table, a nightlight, blue owl thank you notes (how could I not!?), an owl stroller toy and a few adorable outfits and one cute Bryan hat in a baby size. I will post pictures soon! This baby is going to be stylish, fancy and live in a sweet, sweet nursery.

I am loving this. This is the fun part! To Pintrest!

You're Not A Northerner Unless...

You Go Grocery Shopping in the Snow

With two feet of snow already covering my world and even more piled high on the sides of roads, I trekked to the grocery store. We'd been gone all weekend and another big snow is coming tomorrow. Food is a priority. But, I'm going on the record and saying that there is nothing worse than going grocery shopping in the snow - well, maybe grocery shopping in the snow by yourself! Which is exactly what I did.

My car was covered in about a foot of snow, and all I had was a scraper and my hands. Even worse, the ground around my car was covered in snow, ice that used to be snow and fallen icicles from the bottom of my car. A warm Wegmans, seven bags, eighty dollars and ninety minutes later, I made it home safely. I took off my snowy (and now soaking wet) clothes and put away the groceries. Success. Cross that off my Northern List, please.

Closet Therapy

It's pretty common for women to get pleasure out of shopping for new clothes. I'm right there with all the other women. I love new clothes, and I love the process of picking pieces, buying them and ripping off the tags.

But, hold the bus, I've come to love something even more: purging my closet. Purging means going through everything in the closet and deciding what you wear a lot, what you love and what hasn't been out of the house in six months. If it's still in good condition, it goes to Goodwill. If it's old or ugly, it gets trashed.

Yesterday, I purged. And my half of the closet looks wonderful. What's best about a purge is you can tell what you're missing from your wardrobe. For instance, I have four pairs of jeans that I just love. So I'm good on denim. But, I have only one pair of trousers. Not good. I also have several short sleeve work shirts, and only one long sleeve, button up shirt. Now, when we hit the stores today, I'll be best prepared to buy things that I need, not just what I crave.