Window Shopping & Weekend Adventures

I'm not much of a shopper-- probably because I hate wasting money. As a whole, my husband and I value experiences over things, so shopping isn't something we spend the majority of our money on; unless you count food purchases as shopping, in which case the majority of our credit card bill is shopping for that. But just because I don't shop that often doesn't mean I don't like nice things and appreciate fashion. I usually just window shop for them or wait for a crazy-good deal at the Gap. With that said, yesterday morning I decided to do a little shopping online. I wanted some new casual tennis shoes to replace my usual Jack Purcell shoes. I needed something new for spring/fall when Uggs are too warm and flip flops are too cool. Here's what I came up with:

...and for $50 total, I am now awaiting their arrival at my doorstep. It's all that time spent in Europe that has me wanting Euro-inspired tennis shoes. I'm kicking myself for not buying them there since the variety is so much better. I use ShopAtHome for just about every purchase online. I will be getting 12% back from that purchase (around $6) just for buying through their link. They're like Ebates, but I think they have higher cash-back percentages.

Something I've also wanted since moving to colder climates (plural = Germany/Illinois) are boots. Like a nice pair of boots and not Uggs-- though I have two pair and love them dearly. I wanted something a little more fashionable that could be worn with just about anything. I never feel quite right wearing Uggs out to a nice restaurant. While I don't own a pair yet since I feel a boot purchase is similar to jeans shopping (oh, the dread!), I think something like these might suit my fancy...

...and my first {out of the ordinary} shopping post wouldn't be fitting unless I posted a thing or two from my very favorite clothing store on the planet, Anthropologie. I think this dress is simple and just my style. I love the two-tone yellow/gray pairing.

...completely absurd and out of my price range, but lovely all the same is this amazing hobo purse. Now someone just tell me what normal human being would purchase this $600 purse and not feel like wrapping it in a protective coating before taking it out in public. Set it down on the floor, gasp!

So there you have it. I'm also in the market for a new purse-- one that is black, crushed leather (not shiny), reasonably priced (under $100) and maybe a tad smaller than that Anthro purse above. Anyone have a purse they love that's worth sharing? It needs to last me a long time. I hate spending money on purses for some reason... so sturdy and trusty preferred.

As for the weekend... we Ray accomplished quite a bit in the family room, and we spent some quality time with friends. On Saturday morning I went to my zumba class. I love the instructor on Saturdays, but hate the studio the class is held in. There are far too many people in such a small space and I wish there was more room to branch out. Normally it's held in the gym, but not on weekends.

Ray began scraping the popcorn from the ceiling in our family room and was doing very well... until... he reached the 3rd (of 4) sections. The previous owners attempted to scrape the popcorn but gave up. It wouldn't matter, except they decided to paint over the area they attempted to scrape. It would have been better off had they just left it be. Scraping popcorn + extra paint = impossible! We have a goal to complete the final bits of scraping/sanding the ceiling before starting the wallpaper. Though, we peeled a bit very quickly and it came off like a breeze! The paper is a grainy texture just like our office was-- and that was the least difficult of 4 rooms we've already stripped. I'm probably speaking too soon, but we're thrilled that our last wallpaper room could be relatively easy on that end! Now to finish the dang ceiling...

Last night we had dinner with 3 other couples at a local Indian restaurant. With the help of restaurant.com, we paid $20/couple for all-you-can-eat dinner buffet! The Allens, Fergusons, and Nelsons joined us for a good time of spicy food and conversation. {Why do all of our last names end in n? Weird, right?} The Nelsons are new to the crew and we wanted to welcome them in. My friend Alli should be credited for setting up the fun shindig and we all really enjoyed ourselves. Nevermind the text message I got from her this morning about only having one bathroom at their house after a night full of Indian cuisine. Hahaha. For the record, it doesn't affect me that way, thank goodness.

At one point in the dinner, the Nelsons asked what I did for a job. I didn't really know what to say, honestly. We were out at dinner with two couples that we're quite close with and this new couple, but I didn't feel it was the time nor place to drop the bomb of sadness on two unsuspecting individuals. They are new to the group, I didn't want them feeling sad/awkward, and I didn't think that a couple of less than 6 months into their marriage needed to hear the harsh reality of life/death quite yet. I guess I also wanted them to keep experiencing new marital bliss like we had for 2.5 years prior to Andrew's death.

So I answered with a simple "nothing" and then went on to explain that I was a teacher but am now a sub for the time being. She asked if I am seeking full-time employment and I told her I was not. How can I avoid sounding entitled/boring/lame/lazy without fully divulging all the heartbreak and reasoning? I could have said that we're hoping to become pregnant soon, but then I'd probably have to deal with the whole, how exciting, first time parent comments... when I know becoming pregnant again will provide hope but will be anything but exciting. It will be downright terrifying if I'm being honest.

Regardless, we carried on with the dinner without letting the whole sad cat out of the bag. If they choose to hang with our crew much longer, they'll be sure to learn the sadness. But part of me wanted them to get to know Brandy and Ray without sadness-- for them to see the carefree, fun-loving couple we used to be and still cling to.

Midwest Love for Baby-Dub

This past Sunday, on Halloween, about 13 wonderful ladies who I've had the pleasure of getting to know (and a few missing) came together to throw a shower for our little guy. In just over a month and a half, he'll be with us to stay! It's so incredibly surreal that pregnancy goes by so quickly! Surely as I am awake during the middle of the night, I don't think it's a slow process... but I digress.

Here are some photos my friend Liz took during the shower because I sadly took none! I'm so terrible at taking photos during events! This photo is of a friend, Kathy, and myself just after the shower ended.

 From the above photo and here, you can see Alli's gorgeous flower selection. I'm a huge gerbera daisy fan and if I had a photo from our wedding to post here, I'd do that. I just love them. They're simple, clean, and fresh-- and no one is allergic to the scent. :) I can't forget to mention the thought put into the other centerpieces, too! Those cute monkeys are to match the lovely quilt and bumpers my mom made for Baby W's crib. I saved this little guy because I felt he best represented our blondness-- my husband and myself. I can almost guarantee our child will be a toe-head if not a redhead. We'll see!

 From left to right: Erica, Carolyn, Liz, Kim, Kristi, Kathy

 From left to right: me and my enormous arm (seriously, I know you noticed it, too. Ick), Jessie, Misha, Amanda, and Alli.

We have no photos of Jenny for some reason... but she was there and we're so happy she was able to leave her little lady, Abigail, to be with us for a couple hours.

Gift time! We don't have a big photo of the spread, but there were so many wonderful and thoughtful surprises from the girls. Though they were all wonderful, a few really thoughtful pieces stand out in my mind: a Christmas ornament of baby boy shoes for Baby W's first Christmas & special books picked out by Joel-- our favorite 2-year-old and son to Jim & Kristi. We're so thankful for all the gifts, but mostly for the time and effort people put forth to show us how much they care. As I told the ladies at the shower, one of our only concerns with choosing to become pregnant when we first moved to the Midwest was that we wouldn't have as much love and support knowing very few people. That's not true anymore at all! Sure, there are no family members local, but it's nice to support one another in friendship. We feel very loved. God's definitely taken care of us and answered some prayers.

 This photo is more to show off the awesome basket of goodies from Amanda & Alli! Those ladies were creative in their wrapping. :)

 Here's Kim and the food spread. She's also an elementary teacher and pregnant with her first--surprise gender, due in early 2011.

Kristi put together a fun game about candy related to pregnancy/childbirth. I was terrible at the game but enjoyed hearing all of the fun answers.

Liz's sister, Becky, and her son Luke came to join us in their Halloween costumes! It was very fun to have them there and Luke to help me with opening the gifts.

Later at home, I took another photo of those gorgeous flowers... they're still hanging out on our kitchen island looking as beautiful as ever. My flowers from last week (surprise from my awesome husband) are also just as lovely.

Final themed piece from the shower... the plates and napkin complete with monkeys!

What a wonderful day it was! Then, I went home to tons of trick-or-treaters all over the place and lots of candy-- of which we have way too many leftovers!

Fun & Family in Seven Springs, PA

This past weekend we took a road trip to Seven Springs. Every year Ray's family goes to this ski resort and have been doing so ever since Ray and all of his cousins were little. They rent a big cabin and usually separate boys and girls in rooms with bunkbeds. For some reason, bunkbeds were out this year and separate rooms were in! Since we moved within driving distance (8.5 hours away), we wanted to make the drive. We love road trips, so this was just another chance for us to explore-- and me to add another state, Ohio, to my list!

We arrived--to the surprise of everyone but my sister-in-law Samantha--at about 11p.m. at night as opposed to the next morning like they expected. We made excellent time and managed to arrive before bedtime. After catching up for a bit, it was off to our awesome room (we had our own bathroom!) for the night. In the morning, Ray went for a nice jog/hike with Samantha and I stayed back to catch up with Gramie, Papa, and all the others. Most everyone went for hikes during this morning time. We had an excellent lunch (my mother in law is always so accommodating and manages to find things I love to eat whenever we're around) and then they threw us a co-baby shower. Ray's cousin, Luke, and his wife, Liz, are also pregnant and due within a day of us-- with a boy! It was so nice seeing them and catching up on all things baby while we were there, too. They live in upstate NY, so we rarely see them. Since we're all now within driving distance to Seven Springs with children the same age, all of that just might change.

The shower was put on by these lovely ladies... all of Ray's aunts. They are all so different in their interests but so amazing and incredibly giving. They planned all the fun! Left to right: Aunt Jan, Aunt Ceil, Aunt Helen. Here they are explaining a game where the two dads-to-be had to place a paper plate on their heads and draw the other's baby. Great fun. I plan to use that if I ever plan a baby shower in the future.

Here we have Papa, Liz, and Luke-- and baby, of course.

...and on the other side we sat with Gramie.

This is the incredible table of delicious lemonade and an AWESOME roasted almond cake. It was so good that I had two pieces!

Let the games begin!

Ray & Luke battling it out...

A bit out of order, but Ceil is explaining the plate game process.

More festivities included a baby-themed word scramble and a onesie decoration. We now have 3 personalized onesies from family members. Left: Sam & Uncle Dutch; Right: Kay & Steve

Left: On Ceil's latest vacation to Canada (she travels the world on her summers), she purchased these fun hats for our little ones. Not pictured are the adorable finger puppets she also included in our gifts! Right: This gorgeous cradle was given to us by Ray's parents for Baby W's infancy sleeping in our room. While we won't be co-sleeping, we will be having him in our room/office area (it's enormous) for a few reasons... it's freezing in Chicago in the winter and because it will be easier for us to get used to being parents. Kay & Steve found the cradle at an antique shop a friend of Kay's tipped them off about and another woman from church whom has known Ray his entire life sewed the cradle padding cover. The bear is a gift that Gramie & Papa gave Ray, Luke, and Scott (all cousins born within a couple months of one another) when they were all young. It's nostalgic and now we have it passed on to our son. So many wonderful gifts for our little one. We feel blessed and I know Baby W will feel so loved when we show up next year to introduce the little one everyone was showering!

In an attempt to catch a photo with Liz, my pregnant twin who was also married into the family... we managed to catch a blurry one with us standing next to one another. Bummer. So, we took two more. One of which I am blocked and the other in which she is blocked. Ha. What a balance.

Sorry Liz... I blocked you in this one!

Before leaving, we also managed to get in a few fun games. Ray's Uncle Dutch is always bringing fun games with him. One was an oversized Sequence board. We have the board at our house, but not quite the same size. He also brought ladderball and another game I'd never played (clearly because I'm terrible-- but Ray's mom and Aunt Helen were AWESOME!) called Kan Jam. They were all tons of fun.  

After leaving Seven Springs for our 8.5 hour trek back to Chicago, we stopped off at Aunt Ceil's house in Pittsburgh (what a lovely place!!!) to pick out a piece of her art. Ceil is an art teacher and clay sculptor and all of her pieces have so much meaning and detail. She had been offering us a piece of her artwork since before we married two years ago... and since we had a car this time around, we stopped off to take her up on the offer! It was so thoughtful and we now have a nice piece in our sitting room.

Our drive home was just fine. The road is basically a solid 400 miles from IL > IN > OH > PA. We are already looking forward to next year with our 9-month old! If only that almond cake would reappear... but not to worry-- there are always tons of desserts because Ray's family knows how to eat great food that is never void of sugar or chocolate. That made for one happy pregnant girl. :)