Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Basel
Hi there! Long time no talk. I don't think I have traveled outside the US sans children since South Africa, but here I am now in Basel Switzerland with just my hubby: yea. How does a stay at home mom who now lives in a sleepy but fabulous New England town pack for such an excursion? An excursion that starts in Basel and ends in Paris. Immediately I want to take all of the Chanel bags I own, and wear high heels and leather jackets everyday, but then I come to my senses and remember that Paris means walking and strolling, and I'm sorry, but blisters aren't Tres Chic, but blisters are better than Keens. Don't worry, I don't own a pair.
Thus, I decided on one Chanel, one Balenciaga, my LV neverfull, and my snakeskin Foley & Corinna bag that has never been to the party. Once I nailed down the bags, it was on to footwear. I was under strict instruction from my hubby to pack light, so I settled on a mere 7 pair: my black mad white Chanel flats, awesome chocolate suede Jimmy Choo Youth Motorcycle boots, metallic Sigerson Morrison ghost loafers, tan suede Ash loafers with gold stars all over, fall themed Prada kitten heels (there are acorns involved), gray suede high heel booties from the Gap, and my Nikes (for running only). I feel strong about these decisions, and so far I have been happy.
My departure outfit experienced a bit of a snafu when I came downstairs and my husband told me I looked like a ninja. I was wearing a long sleeve black James Pearse T with my Lulu groove pants and the moto boots. He looked down at my feet and continued with, "A ninja who rides a Harley". I think traveling in all black is chic and classy, and I was going to sport it up with my new emerald Lululemon puffer vest, but I never got that far. He went on to remind me that we were just flying six hours to Europe not Japan, so I went upstairs and changed into my "normal clothes". Some AG skinnies, a trendy elephant motif popover, my black Hermes belt, and the Chanel flats.
We had a great Swiss Air flight to Zurich and a great little drive to Basel in our black Renault. Vaca is officially underway!!
Cheers,
Regan
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Naked Fashionista
So, we got to the airport, and not only did delta not let Marc get on the plane; they took off the wrong bag. Yes people, I am here on safari with my husbands 27 pound bag of nothing. No undies, no cute snake boots, no safari button downs, no blush colored relaxed skinny jeans, no cute khaki safari jacket with pockets for all your shit. Yeah, I'm pretty much here with no husband, and a Delta sky team t-shirt. I do have the jeans I traveled in, and my mom has an extra pair of boots.
Our professional hunter Tony got to know me really well at the airport when he took me into some hoochie store called Woolworths for some undies, a t-shirt (that fits), a long sleeve, a button down, and some tampons. Nothin like picking out some panties with a man you just met standing over your shoulder planning to pay for all of it. He encouraged me to get a pair of jeans, but he obviously doesn't know me very well. I would rather wear these seven Dojo jeans for a year than wear some flared dark denim with sparkly butterflies on the ass pockets. And, I figured the cat was out of the bag at that point (about the tampons), so I just asked him what I had unsuccessfully googled....."am I going to get attacked by a flesh eating animal since I have my monthly bill?" Don't worry people, I'll be safe.
I guess I'll wear Marc's safari jacket tomorrow. It's either that or my khaki J.Crew grandpa sweater. I'm also taking one of his knives so I can feel a little like Cadmus, or whatever her name is from The Hunger Games. I'll have to take photos with my trusty IPhone since yes, my freakin camera was in my bag too. Oh well, thank god I'm with my parents and not my in-laws. My mom has enough mascara and blush to share. ;) Thus, let's hope for the safe arrival of one handsome husband and one bag full of fabulous safari fashions. I'm going to rock what I have people. It's gonna be great! Tomorrow, we are in search of a sable.
What Up South Africa
Hello there blog followers: it's been awhile. I'm writing this post from the 13th hour of my journey to Johannesburg South Africa. I still can't believe that I'm going to Africa, but it is definitely sinking in as I look at the flight info on the screen in front of me. We have 3 hours and fifteen minutes to go. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, but to put it lightly, "this flight blows!".
The day started off like a normal weekend day. I woke up, grabbed an espresso and a quick bite before I started the waffles and bacon. Sam woke up knowing that this was the day mommy and daddy were leaving, and he couldn't help but be a little sad. He came downstairs in his curious George t-shirt and batman undies with a sad little look on his face. I could tell that he was trying so hard not to cry, so we sat on the floor and had a little cry while we talked about all the fun things he and Zady were going to do when we were gone. It seemed to help. Meanwhile, Zady was eating her Special K with strawberries and singing a very beautiful song. Once Sam sat down at the table to eat his "gorilla balls" she started to talk to him, and wasn't going to have it. He started to cry again, as he told her in his meanest voice, "don't talk to me! I'm having a hard time right now!" She did not obey, and continued to piss him off until we went into the living room to talk to daddy. It was so sad to see him have his "hard time", but they are going to have a blast while we're gone. I just know it. Plus he forgot we existed once we turned on Star Wars. They bounce back!
Thus, the trip started off fabulously; Marc and I left the house, the kids, and grandma with a spring in our step and our bags full of super cute safari clothes. He looked so handsome in his blue exoficcio long sleeve performance T, khaki hunting pants, and cowboy boots. And I was rocking a cute sleeveless teal number with a pair of sevens and my Hermes belt, teal side out. I hadn't donned my super cute safari jacket and scarf from Anthro since it was still pretty hot at the house. Footwear of choice was a pair of trusty Minnatonka moccasins with beaded eagles on the toe. Comfy and casual for the crazy day of travel.
We made it to Atlanta and met my parents at this great restaurant in terminal E called One Flew South
Monday, August 8, 2011
Total Americana
So, this weekend my husband wanted us to go to the beach, and the closest beach to us is about an hour and a half away in New Jersey. Yeah, that's right, New Jersey. I say that only because I'm from the South, and my only experience in New Jersey has taken place in Newark, and Piscataway.....both stellar examples of the industrial shithole part of Jersey. Hey, I started kindergarten in the armpit of Texas also known as Alice, so I can rag on my own state too......don't get all "jersey shore" on me.....I'm just sayin. Yes, so needless to say, I was a little skeptical of this Ocean City place. I was thinking of Newark and the small snippets I had seen on Talk Soup of that horrible Jersey Shore show, and not having high hopes or expectations of our impending weekend getaway.
I was instructed by my husband to find us a "rathole motel" for the one night that we were going because according to him....that is part of the fun of it all. Hmmmmm, rathole, and motel are not really part of my vacation dialog, but I am an obedient wife, so I started my search. My search was way harder than expected. I expected the challenge would lie in choosing the least crappy of places, but it took a turn when I called the first 5 places and all of them had at least a two night minimum. Thus my search turned into a search for a one night rate that wasn't over $200. I love a vacation, and a nice hotel room, but I'm not going to pay over $200 for one night in a Mo-tel that has reviews on Trip Advisory written by college kids. I have my standards people!
We picked up two extras for our mini beach vaca....my father in law and his wife were game for the weekend as well, so the one night motel search was made more challenging since I had to find not one, but two rooms......it was daunting, but I talked us into a two bedroom suite at the Ocean 7 Motel. I tried my hardest to set low expectations in all, since I had no idea what we were in for, but my nervousness subsided when Opa and Moma showed up with no suitcase, but a laundry basket full of belongings for the trip....I thought, well, they packed in a laundry basket, so at least we will be appropriately entering our foreshadowed accommodations.
Alas, we arrived, and our room was really nice, well....it was clean and comfy. It was like a Motel 6 goes to the beach, but with a little more swagger. We were all pleasantly surprised and happy with our room. The front desk was all about kids....we got balloon animals, and the opportunity to pick one piece of treasure out of a treasure chest of choking hazards. It was fantastics!
After we checked into our room, we hit the boardwalk. It was fabulous! It was full of families that were there to enjoy the beach and enjoy their time together. I felt like I had stepped back in time. The boardwalk was lined with pizza joints, arcades, souvenir shops, old fashioned candy joints, ice cream stands, and places that kids could only dream of. We walked up and down the boardwalk first, followed by a quick dip in the water. The weather was perfect! It wasn't too hot; the water was the perfect temp.....it was the perfect beginning to our mini beach vaca. After our dip, we went to Mack & Manco's pizza shop since it was recommended by my good friend Jen. The pizza was enormous and fabulous; pure thin crusted perfection!
So, nothin like getting back out in the water after 3 too many pieces of pizza. We swam, we made a dragon in the sand, I made tons of things that my kids took joy in destroying in a Godzilla-like manor in the sand. It was so fun! After that, we went back to our room, popped a bottle of wine, showered, and made it out to Ocean City Seafood Co. Once again, total Americana. The shops were all old but kept up, the servers were obviously local teenagers and very friendly. There was such a "mom and pop" feel to everything. My crab-cake platter was delicious, even after Pigpen decided that he needed to poop right when the food got to the table. (never fails)
After dinner we watched the people from Shrivers make homemade Salt Water Taffy, and then filled a giant bag full of pretty little colored treats. With bellies full of food and taffy we made our way down the boardwalk to the Music Pier where my kids served as the primary entertainment in addition to the live band playing surfer music. It was hysterical, my daughter went absolutely berserk during a drum solo while my son hopped around like a ninja on crack. After the music show, the young one went to bed with her Moma, and we headed down the boardwalk to the giant Ferris Wheel. My son was bursting with excitement and fighting exhaustion all at the same time. He was like a Jeckle and Hyde when we were waiting in line for the "steering wheel". Once we got on the Ferris Wheel, it was like no other Ferris Wheel ride I've ever had. I got to experience it through his eyes, and it was so exciting. I just couldn't imagine what was going through his little head. Ahhh, perfection. After the Ferris Wheel we had a few tickets to burn, so Pigpen decided to do the bumper cars.....and boy we had no idea the hilarity that was about to take place. It was the biggest cluster of kids and cars I had ever seen. Everyone was around 3-5 years old, and no one knew the first thing about driving a car. The poor girl that worked there had to pull them off of one another all while trying not to get pummeled in the process, while parents stood on the other side of the fence yelling, "go left, push on the gas, go right, watch out". I was ridiculous!
The next day started with a hearty and delicious breakfast at Augie's Waffle house. The Oatmeal pancakes were divine! The day was filled with a little bit of the same except we added a Surrey Ride to our experience. A Surrey is a huge covered bicycle that seats six and is peddled by four. We strapped the kids on the front of the basket and took off down the boardwalk. They loved it! Everyone loved everything, and that is the sign of a great mini beach vaca. I don't even think Birdie minded the two pounds of sand that fell out of her diaper when I changed her for the ride home.
Ocean City New Jersey.....you rock so much that I even bought a sweatshirt that I will proudly wear around my house. :)
I was instructed by my husband to find us a "rathole motel" for the one night that we were going because according to him....that is part of the fun of it all. Hmmmmm, rathole, and motel are not really part of my vacation dialog, but I am an obedient wife, so I started my search. My search was way harder than expected. I expected the challenge would lie in choosing the least crappy of places, but it took a turn when I called the first 5 places and all of them had at least a two night minimum. Thus my search turned into a search for a one night rate that wasn't over $200. I love a vacation, and a nice hotel room, but I'm not going to pay over $200 for one night in a Mo-tel that has reviews on Trip Advisory written by college kids. I have my standards people!
We picked up two extras for our mini beach vaca....my father in law and his wife were game for the weekend as well, so the one night motel search was made more challenging since I had to find not one, but two rooms......it was daunting, but I talked us into a two bedroom suite at the Ocean 7 Motel. I tried my hardest to set low expectations in all, since I had no idea what we were in for, but my nervousness subsided when Opa and Moma showed up with no suitcase, but a laundry basket full of belongings for the trip....I thought, well, they packed in a laundry basket, so at least we will be appropriately entering our foreshadowed accommodations.
Alas, we arrived, and our room was really nice, well....it was clean and comfy. It was like a Motel 6 goes to the beach, but with a little more swagger. We were all pleasantly surprised and happy with our room. The front desk was all about kids....we got balloon animals, and the opportunity to pick one piece of treasure out of a treasure chest of choking hazards. It was fantastics!
After we checked into our room, we hit the boardwalk. It was fabulous! It was full of families that were there to enjoy the beach and enjoy their time together. I felt like I had stepped back in time. The boardwalk was lined with pizza joints, arcades, souvenir shops, old fashioned candy joints, ice cream stands, and places that kids could only dream of. We walked up and down the boardwalk first, followed by a quick dip in the water. The weather was perfect! It wasn't too hot; the water was the perfect temp.....it was the perfect beginning to our mini beach vaca. After our dip, we went to Mack & Manco's pizza shop since it was recommended by my good friend Jen. The pizza was enormous and fabulous; pure thin crusted perfection!
So, nothin like getting back out in the water after 3 too many pieces of pizza. We swam, we made a dragon in the sand, I made tons of things that my kids took joy in destroying in a Godzilla-like manor in the sand. It was so fun! After that, we went back to our room, popped a bottle of wine, showered, and made it out to Ocean City Seafood Co. Once again, total Americana. The shops were all old but kept up, the servers were obviously local teenagers and very friendly. There was such a "mom and pop" feel to everything. My crab-cake platter was delicious, even after Pigpen decided that he needed to poop right when the food got to the table. (never fails)
After dinner we watched the people from Shrivers make homemade Salt Water Taffy, and then filled a giant bag full of pretty little colored treats. With bellies full of food and taffy we made our way down the boardwalk to the Music Pier where my kids served as the primary entertainment in addition to the live band playing surfer music. It was hysterical, my daughter went absolutely berserk during a drum solo while my son hopped around like a ninja on crack. After the music show, the young one went to bed with her Moma, and we headed down the boardwalk to the giant Ferris Wheel. My son was bursting with excitement and fighting exhaustion all at the same time. He was like a Jeckle and Hyde when we were waiting in line for the "steering wheel". Once we got on the Ferris Wheel, it was like no other Ferris Wheel ride I've ever had. I got to experience it through his eyes, and it was so exciting. I just couldn't imagine what was going through his little head. Ahhh, perfection. After the Ferris Wheel we had a few tickets to burn, so Pigpen decided to do the bumper cars.....and boy we had no idea the hilarity that was about to take place. It was the biggest cluster of kids and cars I had ever seen. Everyone was around 3-5 years old, and no one knew the first thing about driving a car. The poor girl that worked there had to pull them off of one another all while trying not to get pummeled in the process, while parents stood on the other side of the fence yelling, "go left, push on the gas, go right, watch out". I was ridiculous!
The next day started with a hearty and delicious breakfast at Augie's Waffle house. The Oatmeal pancakes were divine! The day was filled with a little bit of the same except we added a Surrey Ride to our experience. A Surrey is a huge covered bicycle that seats six and is peddled by four. We strapped the kids on the front of the basket and took off down the boardwalk. They loved it! Everyone loved everything, and that is the sign of a great mini beach vaca. I don't even think Birdie minded the two pounds of sand that fell out of her diaper when I changed her for the ride home.
Ocean City New Jersey.....you rock so much that I even bought a sweatshirt that I will proudly wear around my house. :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Traveling With the Hooligans
Recently a friend of mine reached out to me because she is about to take her nine month old on an adventure to Austria. Sounds amazing! We took Pigpen to London when he was about ten months old, so I definitely have some experience with this. So, if you are traveling with the kiddos to a foreign land read on.....
We were going to England for the National Spine Somethingorother, and Pigpen and I got to tag along and spend the first week with Daddy in Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon before the convention started. Then we headed to London where my days were husband free, and it was up to me to sightsee with my little man alone. I was of course super excited for our adventure, but super duper ridiculously nervous as well. Pigpen had been on several airplanes before our trip across the pond, but no two plane rides are the same. My advice is, bring toys, bring dope (tylenol), snacks, woobies (blankets), and anything that lights up without making too much noise. Think of the things that your child likes at home, and pack those in your diaper bag. Don't forget an extra pair of clothes for him, and an extra shirt for you just in case some weird shit goes down....you never know, and you don't want to go through customs looking like a haggard slobby mom. Not cute. :) Once we were flying somewhere with Pigpen, and he was sleeping like a log when the lady came by for drinks, so I totally went for it.....I ordered a tomato juice. I went against everything I knew to be sensible in my head because I wanted a damn tomato juice; my husband was inspired by my sassiness and too ordered a tomato juice.
Without fail, I knocked mine over; it went all over the cashmere baby blanket covering my child, and all over my shirt. My husband jumped and tried to help me when he saw it spill causing his to spill as well. It was awesome! Pigpen slept through it, but we were covered, and the cashmere blanket...well, disaster. So, when traveling with kids, you should only order water always no matter what, end of story.
I digress, so when planning a trip across the pond you need to think about what you use and do everyday with your child, and then you need to think about how you can make that happen where ever you are headed. We chose to fly Virgin Atlantic because we could upgrade to business class without breaking the bank, and we were able to reserve the first row and rent a bassinet from the airline. It was about $120 more, but totally worth every penny. This was a box that snapped into the wall about eye level for the baby to lay in. Pigpen was huge, and not really a baby at 10 months, but hey, it worked. He slept in that cozy little box while we drank champagne and ate steak. It was worth every penny.
My husband always scoffed at me when I insisted on taking the stroller through the airport. We had a BOB, and I was absolutely 100% gay for this stroller. It was like a dream cart. You could hang stuff off of it, put tons of things in it....it was awesome, and it folded up in two seconds....so easy, and so worth having in the airport. I'm sorry, but having a kid strapped to the front of me while I'm trying to carry my diaper bag, a starbucks, and walk in cute shoes....not happenin, and not my idea of traveling fun. So, take the stroller, and gate check it. You have to wait for it when you get off the plane, but it has always been fine.
What to pack: We were going to England where they obviously speak English, but you never know what kind of things they are going to have once you get there. They call diapers nappys, and they eat fish and chips, curries, and prawns, so I wasn't going to take any chances on our comfortable experience. My son was comfortable in his pampers cruisers, so I packed enough for the whole trip. He loved his organic Gerber mish mosh, so I packed a shitload of those too. He had sensitive skin, so I packed a washcloth from home and some mild soap. My husband thought I was crazy, but I only had one big roller bag, a duffle for Pig, and my diaper bag, oh, and a purse, but that's it. We made arrangements with all of the hotels for a pack n play, and we didn't take his car-seat since we used trains and public transit the whole time. In fact, when we got there, the cabby took the entire stroller and put it in the cab with Pigpen in it and put the brake on (the cabs are huge in London). I was prepared to hold him on my lap like the most secure human restraint on earth, but he was happy in his stroller, and probably much more safe.
I made sure he had at least two blankets from home for his bed, and two stuffed animals. That way each place wasn't sooo different from home. We also downloaded lullabies on my ipod and brought this awesome little speaker dock that looks like a lego to put next to his bed. I also have this great little night light from Ikea called the Spoka. I take it with me when I go places because it travels well, and it's great to have a night light with kids.
We had such an awesome time! We even made arrangements with the hotel for a babysitter two different nights. The hotels were nice, and these were people that they contracted, thus making them liable, so you can trust it. I took a photo of the babysitter holding Pigpen each time before I left so I could show it to the police later if I had to, but the girls were sweet and did a great job. I loved our trip. Be brave if you travel! I learned how to navigate the Tube, London's subway system. One helpful hint about subways and strollers is, look for the handicap accessible stops if you are by yourself. That way you can be certain you will be able to wheel your chariot where it needs to go instead of getting somewhere with 4 flights of stairs and no elevator. I learned that the hard way. We also started to take the ferry instead of the subway....it was a few pounds more, but it was faster and waaayyy easier. Plus, what little boy doesn't love a boat?
That is all I can remember. I hope that helps, and let me know if anyone had any questions about traveling with those sweet little baby angels of yours who would never cry, or make noise, or do anything annoying to other passengers.
Oh, here is some good airplane etiquette. Be nice, be as calm as possible, and realize that it is loud on an airplane, so people probably aren't hearing anything from your area at least two rows away. I always say to my kids out loud, "don't kick or touch the seat in front of you, I'm sure that man will not appreciate it, do your best." That way he knows that I'm trying to keep them under control. Also, if things get out of control, just put on your blinders, don't panic, and think of what your child needs. Don't think about the people giving you the evil eye, just think about calming down, and getting your child whatever it is they want! :) Those evil eye folks will get theirs, and it won't be good, so don't worry about those assholes. And, if you don't have kids, please be nice to the people who do. They don't want to be on the plane any more than you do, so give them a break.
That's all for now......Tootles!
We were going to England for the National Spine Somethingorother, and Pigpen and I got to tag along and spend the first week with Daddy in Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon before the convention started. Then we headed to London where my days were husband free, and it was up to me to sightsee with my little man alone. I was of course super excited for our adventure, but super duper ridiculously nervous as well. Pigpen had been on several airplanes before our trip across the pond, but no two plane rides are the same. My advice is, bring toys, bring dope (tylenol), snacks, woobies (blankets), and anything that lights up without making too much noise. Think of the things that your child likes at home, and pack those in your diaper bag. Don't forget an extra pair of clothes for him, and an extra shirt for you just in case some weird shit goes down....you never know, and you don't want to go through customs looking like a haggard slobby mom. Not cute. :) Once we were flying somewhere with Pigpen, and he was sleeping like a log when the lady came by for drinks, so I totally went for it.....I ordered a tomato juice. I went against everything I knew to be sensible in my head because I wanted a damn tomato juice; my husband was inspired by my sassiness and too ordered a tomato juice.
Without fail, I knocked mine over; it went all over the cashmere baby blanket covering my child, and all over my shirt. My husband jumped and tried to help me when he saw it spill causing his to spill as well. It was awesome! Pigpen slept through it, but we were covered, and the cashmere blanket...well, disaster. So, when traveling with kids, you should only order water always no matter what, end of story.
I digress, so when planning a trip across the pond you need to think about what you use and do everyday with your child, and then you need to think about how you can make that happen where ever you are headed. We chose to fly Virgin Atlantic because we could upgrade to business class without breaking the bank, and we were able to reserve the first row and rent a bassinet from the airline. It was about $120 more, but totally worth every penny. This was a box that snapped into the wall about eye level for the baby to lay in. Pigpen was huge, and not really a baby at 10 months, but hey, it worked. He slept in that cozy little box while we drank champagne and ate steak. It was worth every penny.
My husband always scoffed at me when I insisted on taking the stroller through the airport. We had a BOB, and I was absolutely 100% gay for this stroller. It was like a dream cart. You could hang stuff off of it, put tons of things in it....it was awesome, and it folded up in two seconds....so easy, and so worth having in the airport. I'm sorry, but having a kid strapped to the front of me while I'm trying to carry my diaper bag, a starbucks, and walk in cute shoes....not happenin, and not my idea of traveling fun. So, take the stroller, and gate check it. You have to wait for it when you get off the plane, but it has always been fine.
What to pack: We were going to England where they obviously speak English, but you never know what kind of things they are going to have once you get there. They call diapers nappys, and they eat fish and chips, curries, and prawns, so I wasn't going to take any chances on our comfortable experience. My son was comfortable in his pampers cruisers, so I packed enough for the whole trip. He loved his organic Gerber mish mosh, so I packed a shitload of those too. He had sensitive skin, so I packed a washcloth from home and some mild soap. My husband thought I was crazy, but I only had one big roller bag, a duffle for Pig, and my diaper bag, oh, and a purse, but that's it. We made arrangements with all of the hotels for a pack n play, and we didn't take his car-seat since we used trains and public transit the whole time. In fact, when we got there, the cabby took the entire stroller and put it in the cab with Pigpen in it and put the brake on (the cabs are huge in London). I was prepared to hold him on my lap like the most secure human restraint on earth, but he was happy in his stroller, and probably much more safe.
I made sure he had at least two blankets from home for his bed, and two stuffed animals. That way each place wasn't sooo different from home. We also downloaded lullabies on my ipod and brought this awesome little speaker dock that looks like a lego to put next to his bed. I also have this great little night light from Ikea called the Spoka. I take it with me when I go places because it travels well, and it's great to have a night light with kids.
We had such an awesome time! We even made arrangements with the hotel for a babysitter two different nights. The hotels were nice, and these were people that they contracted, thus making them liable, so you can trust it. I took a photo of the babysitter holding Pigpen each time before I left so I could show it to the police later if I had to, but the girls were sweet and did a great job. I loved our trip. Be brave if you travel! I learned how to navigate the Tube, London's subway system. One helpful hint about subways and strollers is, look for the handicap accessible stops if you are by yourself. That way you can be certain you will be able to wheel your chariot where it needs to go instead of getting somewhere with 4 flights of stairs and no elevator. I learned that the hard way. We also started to take the ferry instead of the subway....it was a few pounds more, but it was faster and waaayyy easier. Plus, what little boy doesn't love a boat?
That is all I can remember. I hope that helps, and let me know if anyone had any questions about traveling with those sweet little baby angels of yours who would never cry, or make noise, or do anything annoying to other passengers.
Oh, here is some good airplane etiquette. Be nice, be as calm as possible, and realize that it is loud on an airplane, so people probably aren't hearing anything from your area at least two rows away. I always say to my kids out loud, "don't kick or touch the seat in front of you, I'm sure that man will not appreciate it, do your best." That way he knows that I'm trying to keep them under control. Also, if things get out of control, just put on your blinders, don't panic, and think of what your child needs. Don't think about the people giving you the evil eye, just think about calming down, and getting your child whatever it is they want! :) Those evil eye folks will get theirs, and it won't be good, so don't worry about those assholes. And, if you don't have kids, please be nice to the people who do. They don't want to be on the plane any more than you do, so give them a break.
That's all for now......Tootles!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Call
So, today was an ordinary day at Oak Lodge.....I still can't believe that I get to live in a house that has it's own name. Anyway....I have joined this fabulous Gym in town that is huge, awesome, and well fabulous. It has an entire wing for kids with tons of fun stuff to do. They even do a craft with them at certain times during the day, AND, you can leave them in the Kid's Zone for 2.25 hours. Awesome! Also....wait for it....wait for it....there is a full service spa that has everything from massages and facials, to nails and waxing for you to partake in while your kids are being thoughtfully entertained by people who are most definitely not petaphiles. They have a cafe that has two meals featured under glass display cases everyday, they have pools, they have pilates, they have yoga, they have some horrible class called "dance party" that I was so happy I did not partake in today. They have my happiness.
I digress. So this is my new haunt....I go there for piece of mind, and to meet friends. I actually met 3 really cool girls, and get this...one of them has my name. I'm finally starting to settle into a routine in my new town and my new house. It feels good. We still can't afford daycare yet, but maybe some day. I like to joke that I am the Governess of Oak Lodge because all of these men have been out lately to hook things up, and I'm dressed in sweats with crazy hair. I'm sure they think I'm eccentric to say the least....
So, back to the call. I was haunting my haunt when it came, and I'm sure it meant that my giant Louis bag was ringing annoyingly in the Kid's Zone. It was rainy and crappy here today, so I didn't even check my phone until I got home since it was tucked safely away in my hot coral Burberry Rain Coat. I was giving the kids their lunch, organic hotdogs (if that's not an oxymoron) and prunes, when I checked my messages. I called the custom closet place earlier that day to order more rods, so I figured the Boston number was the lady calling me back for my credit card information and address, but I was sooooo pleasantly surprised and totally flabbergasted when I listened to the message.
The message said, "Hi Mrs. P this AnnMarie from Hermes in Boston, and I was just calling to tell you that your Orange Birkin is finally here, and we will hold it here with your name on it until we here from you."
What??? Are you kidding me right now??? Those were my exact words. So, here I am...little old unfamous, un trust-funded, un oil-heiressed me, and now I have had not just one, but two encounters with the elusive Birkin. I never in a million years thought I would get a call back from AnnMarie. She seemed a bit Snooty McSnoot when I met her in the Boutique a year ago. Granted I did stroll in with my husband, who is cute, and quite fashionable, and well....my two kids. One of which was crying because she either pooped in her pants, wanted to sleep, was bored, or wanted to nurse. Still, I looked cute. I was sporting my super cool Mackage rain coat with bubble sleeves, a fabulous Missoni scarf and some Hunter wellies when we went in. I remember she didn't have any normal Birkins in the store that day....they rarely do, but she had an exotic skin one that she let me fondle. I gave her my name and information, as well as the color and size that I wanted. And Bam! One year later.....I got the call.
I totally called her back to talk details with her. She told me the price and I responded with a sarcastic but jovial joke about that being totally normal and mainstream. She actually laughed and joked with me. I told her that we just moved and bought a house, so it was most likely a no-go, but I would talk it over with my husband and get back to her. Then, I asked her if she could send me a picture of it, and she said that she would. I can't even stand it! I had a few delirious thoughts of charging it. I could just hear my husband in the back of my head saying, "your credit doesn't matter now since we have a badass house that we won't be moving out of any time soon". That means, to a shopaholic that you should go out and get every store card imaginable and charge everything ridiculous. Thank God I am a recovering shopaholic!!
I will just revel in the photo and in the hopes that one day I will write a best seller and buy one with all of my millions. :)
I digress. So this is my new haunt....I go there for piece of mind, and to meet friends. I actually met 3 really cool girls, and get this...one of them has my name. I'm finally starting to settle into a routine in my new town and my new house. It feels good. We still can't afford daycare yet, but maybe some day. I like to joke that I am the Governess of Oak Lodge because all of these men have been out lately to hook things up, and I'm dressed in sweats with crazy hair. I'm sure they think I'm eccentric to say the least....
So, back to the call. I was haunting my haunt when it came, and I'm sure it meant that my giant Louis bag was ringing annoyingly in the Kid's Zone. It was rainy and crappy here today, so I didn't even check my phone until I got home since it was tucked safely away in my hot coral Burberry Rain Coat. I was giving the kids their lunch, organic hotdogs (if that's not an oxymoron) and prunes, when I checked my messages. I called the custom closet place earlier that day to order more rods, so I figured the Boston number was the lady calling me back for my credit card information and address, but I was sooooo pleasantly surprised and totally flabbergasted when I listened to the message.
The message said, "Hi Mrs. P this AnnMarie from Hermes in Boston, and I was just calling to tell you that your Orange Birkin is finally here, and we will hold it here with your name on it until we here from you."
What??? Are you kidding me right now??? Those were my exact words. So, here I am...little old unfamous, un trust-funded, un oil-heiressed me, and now I have had not just one, but two encounters with the elusive Birkin. I never in a million years thought I would get a call back from AnnMarie. She seemed a bit Snooty McSnoot when I met her in the Boutique a year ago. Granted I did stroll in with my husband, who is cute, and quite fashionable, and well....my two kids. One of which was crying because she either pooped in her pants, wanted to sleep, was bored, or wanted to nurse. Still, I looked cute. I was sporting my super cool Mackage rain coat with bubble sleeves, a fabulous Missoni scarf and some Hunter wellies when we went in. I remember she didn't have any normal Birkins in the store that day....they rarely do, but she had an exotic skin one that she let me fondle. I gave her my name and information, as well as the color and size that I wanted. And Bam! One year later.....I got the call.
I totally called her back to talk details with her. She told me the price and I responded with a sarcastic but jovial joke about that being totally normal and mainstream. She actually laughed and joked with me. I told her that we just moved and bought a house, so it was most likely a no-go, but I would talk it over with my husband and get back to her. Then, I asked her if she could send me a picture of it, and she said that she would. I can't even stand it! I had a few delirious thoughts of charging it. I could just hear my husband in the back of my head saying, "your credit doesn't matter now since we have a badass house that we won't be moving out of any time soon". That means, to a shopaholic that you should go out and get every store card imaginable and charge everything ridiculous. Thank God I am a recovering shopaholic!!
I will just revel in the photo and in the hopes that one day I will write a best seller and buy one with all of my millions. :)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Fashionista's Journey to PA
So here it is folks. I would like to apologize for being so absent in the bloggosphere, and mostly I would like to apologize to all of those folks who feel like I left like a fugitive with no goodbyes. Once you read this you will understand our plite. My loving husband is the worker in our family, and he was working at a medical implant start up company. No, we can not get you a good deal. :) We moved from Austin - the city that we loved - to try our hand at self employment before we started our family. So I moved from all of my friends to a strange little town in the northeast to live in a small log cabin on a lake in the middle of nowhere! I had just had a baby, put my career on hold, and moved from my family. It was so hard, but Pigpen, who was four months at the time was a trooper, and so was mommy. We made it work, and I made some really fabulous friends who helped me figure out how to be a stay at home mom. I love you guys for that!
So we knew that the start up world would be full of uncertainty. I approached it like Vegas. I am a super big risk taker, and my husband is not, so we really balance each other out that way. I supported him on this, and was ready to accept the outcome. It was going to be really good, or we were going to lose our shirts. I was ready for it, and I wore my big girl pants the whole time. Everything went really well for the first two years and his company was in the process of being sold while I had Birdie, and from that point on it was always touch and go. We were constantly in save mode so we could walk away if we needed to with some money in the bank. I think it's known as "f-you money" in the man world. He even told me at one point when the company was almost totally out of cash (the cash crisis occurred several more times) that I might need to go back to work. This conversation happened about a week and half after I had Birdie when I was still riding the emotional rollercoaster of motherhood. It was not a fun conversation to have. It was like being stuck in the trash compactor on Star Wars when all of the walls were closing in, and you were just sitting there knee deep in water full of floating trash with a hairy monster who can't talk and a smelly space captian.....awful! I couldn't imagine putting her in daycare for someone else to be responsible for since I had been with Pigpen the entire time. It just didn't seem fair to her, but I was willing to do what we had to do. I am able to get through these things with my Scarlett O'Hara mentality. "I will think about that tomorrow." I think that might be my best trait.
So, we were always in this perpetual limbo of uncertainty. I can't tell you how many times he would say, we might know something next month. They are supposed to tell us if they are going to buy the company next month. It never happened. They never made up their minds.....they would extend it and extend it, and I had no idea if I was staying or moving somewhere else. I decided to just live my life like nothing was happening. We both decided to just stop trying to predict the future and live life like we were staying. I made plans with my friends and never mentioned that I could be leaving soon. I thought that was the best way to go since we really didn't know. The possibilites were: build the company up locally, stay put for about two more years and then move to the town of the company that acquired them, move to Salt Lake City, move back to Austin, move to San Diego, or move to PA. I looked at real estate in each city every day. It was nuts! All the while not knowing what we were doing or where we were going. It changed on a daily basis, so we just started to approach it with a sense of humor.
Then, we were in PA over Thanksgiving and there were several companies bidding on the start up. My husband got a call from one of the big ones, and was asked to formally interview for his dream job sometime before the end of the year. I think he hung up the phone and crapped his pants a little. He really didn't, but maybe he wanted to. So, it was the Friday before Thanksgiving, and we were leaving that evening to head to PA to be with his family. He talked to the President of the company right before we left and decided to take some suits along just in case they could put an agenda together. Thank goodness he did! They called him Sunday night and told him to come in to interview Monday and Tuesday. He brought exactly two suits....lucky. This company had been looking for someone to fill this job for the past 6 months....it was a big job...
So he left early in the morning for his "meeting", and I had to sit there and tell everyone it was just a meeting with one of the companies that wanted to buy his company.....the whole time I was dying inside because I knew that his family would do cartwheels if they knew that we might be an hour and half away. My family, not so much, but it's nice to make at least one family happy. San Diego wouldn't make anyone happy.
The job interviews took all day long each day, and he was so worn out when he got home, and I was under a strict gag order to not mention one word about this to anyone. He was sensitive that if it didn't work out, the added pressure of seeing his family get excited and then disappointed would be too much to handle, so I just had to sit there and not tell a soul about any of this!!!!! It was torture!!! Maybe I told one person, but I will never confirm that ever!
Time passed, we made it through the holiday and prepared to go to Texas for Christmas. The buying of the company was coming to a head before the end of the year (they really were totally out of cash by this time), and his presence at the office was more important than ever. This meant we weren't going to get to Texas, and my mother's heart was going to be broken! We broke the news to her, and told her it wasn't for sure, but that we were probably going to have to stay in the frozen North until the deal closed. She was very sad, but understood. It sucked to say the least.
The days just mopped by like a Salvadore Dali painting. The present and the future just sagged like the clock hanging on the tree branch it.....was.....so.....painfully........slow. No one would make up their mind about buying the company. I just wanted to call them all and say, "look you stupid suits, shit or get off the pot, so I can get on with my life!" But then!!! My husband got offered THE job! Not one of the million backup jobs in far away places, but his dream job at the big company in PA! It's a huge job for a huge company with huge responsibility, but he is the type of person that thrives in that environment, and he loves to be busy, so well....he's going to be really busy!
This brings me to the part about telling people. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about the job offer because it was an offer from Company A. Company A had been trying to buy my husband's company, Company C, and then Company A's competitor called Company B was also trying to buy Company C. Company B wanted to buy C, but also wanted my husband to go there and work, but my husband really wanted to work at Company A. It was all very touchy, and very sensative, so I wasn't allowed to tell a soul for fear that something would leak to Company B, and then they wouldn't go through with the buy out of Company C because of his acceptance with Company A. Do you smell what I'm steppin in? We had been waiting for this day for over a year, so I wasn't about to be the one to ruin everything with a blab of the mouth. Wouldn't that be awesome....the one who doesn't have a job ruined the one who does have a job's chances for success. I just couldn't risk it, so I had to keep quite.
With this news, we were able to buy tickets for Texas and spend a great holiday there. We were at my parents' house in the Hill Country for the first part of the holiday, then we went to my family's ranch to hang out with the deer, and then we rang in the New Year in Port Aransas at my brother's beach house. It was soooo awesome! My brother has an enormous boat that I think qualifies as a Yacht. I'm not talking the Yacht that Goldie Hawn fell off of in Overboard, but a mini version of that with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and a beautiful living room. It's unreal! We got to be "those people" one night. You know those people that pull up to the restaurant in their big boat and hop off of the back with kids in tow to eat at the restaurant while the captain stays on the boat and waits for you to finish dinner and drive you home since you drank too much wine; yeah, those people. It was ridiculous, and so much fun! I'll blog about that later.
I was feeling much more at ease since I finally knew what the future held. Nobody got rich when the company sold, but they preserved most of their shareholder's value and the product will make it to the hospital instead of a business book. That was a pretty good outcome. I could actually breathe easy and not have to wonder where I would be in a month. There really were so many ways it could have gone....the worst being all the deals and job offers fall through, the company liquidates, and we're out on the street. That was such a real possibility at times that I just chose the Scarlet O'Hara approach to all of it. I couldn't even think about it.
But now!! We are in PA, my husband started his new job which he loves, and we are about to buy the most beautifully fabulous house I have ever seen. I can't even believe that I get to live in a 100 year old house in PA that sits on three and half acres of beauty. I have waited soooo long for this. I have lived for three years in a log cabin with no bathtub causing me to cringe every time Pigpen got in a sandbox or in a mud puddle. Now he can get as dirty as boys can, and I can choose from 4 tubs to soak him in. I can even hose him down in the yard like a naked little jaybird if necessary, and no one will think I'm white trash because no one will see me. I feel so grateful that everything has worked out so wonderfully, but believe me, it took a lot to get to this point. This is the prime example of patients paying off. For those of you who now me, you know that I am Mrs. Instant Gratification, and not Mrs. Patience. I usually make a gaggy face at those Mrs. Patience people, but I have done my best, and I am quite proud of how I handled things. Now we can breathe easy and be poor because we have a fabulous house, instead of because we are saving for the worst case scenario. I like house poor better than that for sure!
So this is my explanation and my apology to all of the fabulously wonderful people I met in Massachusetts. I love and miss all of you! You were and are wonderful friends, and you will always be welcome in our home. I will make you delicious food, and we will have so much fun if you come to visit. I miss going to the gym. I miss our dreamy play-dates. I miss our girl's weekends. I miss our Natick Mall adventures. I miss our Wellesly shopping excursions. I miss my fabulous neighbors, and I even miss Dunks. You people made a Texas girl feel really happy in the frozen north!!!
So we knew that the start up world would be full of uncertainty. I approached it like Vegas. I am a super big risk taker, and my husband is not, so we really balance each other out that way. I supported him on this, and was ready to accept the outcome. It was going to be really good, or we were going to lose our shirts. I was ready for it, and I wore my big girl pants the whole time. Everything went really well for the first two years and his company was in the process of being sold while I had Birdie, and from that point on it was always touch and go. We were constantly in save mode so we could walk away if we needed to with some money in the bank. I think it's known as "f-you money" in the man world. He even told me at one point when the company was almost totally out of cash (the cash crisis occurred several more times) that I might need to go back to work. This conversation happened about a week and half after I had Birdie when I was still riding the emotional rollercoaster of motherhood. It was not a fun conversation to have. It was like being stuck in the trash compactor on Star Wars when all of the walls were closing in, and you were just sitting there knee deep in water full of floating trash with a hairy monster who can't talk and a smelly space captian.....awful! I couldn't imagine putting her in daycare for someone else to be responsible for since I had been with Pigpen the entire time. It just didn't seem fair to her, but I was willing to do what we had to do. I am able to get through these things with my Scarlett O'Hara mentality. "I will think about that tomorrow." I think that might be my best trait.
So, we were always in this perpetual limbo of uncertainty. I can't tell you how many times he would say, we might know something next month. They are supposed to tell us if they are going to buy the company next month. It never happened. They never made up their minds.....they would extend it and extend it, and I had no idea if I was staying or moving somewhere else. I decided to just live my life like nothing was happening. We both decided to just stop trying to predict the future and live life like we were staying. I made plans with my friends and never mentioned that I could be leaving soon. I thought that was the best way to go since we really didn't know. The possibilites were: build the company up locally, stay put for about two more years and then move to the town of the company that acquired them, move to Salt Lake City, move back to Austin, move to San Diego, or move to PA. I looked at real estate in each city every day. It was nuts! All the while not knowing what we were doing or where we were going. It changed on a daily basis, so we just started to approach it with a sense of humor.
Then, we were in PA over Thanksgiving and there were several companies bidding on the start up. My husband got a call from one of the big ones, and was asked to formally interview for his dream job sometime before the end of the year. I think he hung up the phone and crapped his pants a little. He really didn't, but maybe he wanted to. So, it was the Friday before Thanksgiving, and we were leaving that evening to head to PA to be with his family. He talked to the President of the company right before we left and decided to take some suits along just in case they could put an agenda together. Thank goodness he did! They called him Sunday night and told him to come in to interview Monday and Tuesday. He brought exactly two suits....lucky. This company had been looking for someone to fill this job for the past 6 months....it was a big job...
So he left early in the morning for his "meeting", and I had to sit there and tell everyone it was just a meeting with one of the companies that wanted to buy his company.....the whole time I was dying inside because I knew that his family would do cartwheels if they knew that we might be an hour and half away. My family, not so much, but it's nice to make at least one family happy. San Diego wouldn't make anyone happy.
The job interviews took all day long each day, and he was so worn out when he got home, and I was under a strict gag order to not mention one word about this to anyone. He was sensitive that if it didn't work out, the added pressure of seeing his family get excited and then disappointed would be too much to handle, so I just had to sit there and not tell a soul about any of this!!!!! It was torture!!! Maybe I told one person, but I will never confirm that ever!
Time passed, we made it through the holiday and prepared to go to Texas for Christmas. The buying of the company was coming to a head before the end of the year (they really were totally out of cash by this time), and his presence at the office was more important than ever. This meant we weren't going to get to Texas, and my mother's heart was going to be broken! We broke the news to her, and told her it wasn't for sure, but that we were probably going to have to stay in the frozen North until the deal closed. She was very sad, but understood. It sucked to say the least.
The days just mopped by like a Salvadore Dali painting. The present and the future just sagged like the clock hanging on the tree branch it.....was.....so.....painfully........slow. No one would make up their mind about buying the company. I just wanted to call them all and say, "look you stupid suits, shit or get off the pot, so I can get on with my life!" But then!!! My husband got offered THE job! Not one of the million backup jobs in far away places, but his dream job at the big company in PA! It's a huge job for a huge company with huge responsibility, but he is the type of person that thrives in that environment, and he loves to be busy, so well....he's going to be really busy!
This brings me to the part about telling people. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about the job offer because it was an offer from Company A. Company A had been trying to buy my husband's company, Company C, and then Company A's competitor called Company B was also trying to buy Company C. Company B wanted to buy C, but also wanted my husband to go there and work, but my husband really wanted to work at Company A. It was all very touchy, and very sensative, so I wasn't allowed to tell a soul for fear that something would leak to Company B, and then they wouldn't go through with the buy out of Company C because of his acceptance with Company A. Do you smell what I'm steppin in? We had been waiting for this day for over a year, so I wasn't about to be the one to ruin everything with a blab of the mouth. Wouldn't that be awesome....the one who doesn't have a job ruined the one who does have a job's chances for success. I just couldn't risk it, so I had to keep quite.
With this news, we were able to buy tickets for Texas and spend a great holiday there. We were at my parents' house in the Hill Country for the first part of the holiday, then we went to my family's ranch to hang out with the deer, and then we rang in the New Year in Port Aransas at my brother's beach house. It was soooo awesome! My brother has an enormous boat that I think qualifies as a Yacht. I'm not talking the Yacht that Goldie Hawn fell off of in Overboard, but a mini version of that with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and a beautiful living room. It's unreal! We got to be "those people" one night. You know those people that pull up to the restaurant in their big boat and hop off of the back with kids in tow to eat at the restaurant while the captain stays on the boat and waits for you to finish dinner and drive you home since you drank too much wine; yeah, those people. It was ridiculous, and so much fun! I'll blog about that later.
I was feeling much more at ease since I finally knew what the future held. Nobody got rich when the company sold, but they preserved most of their shareholder's value and the product will make it to the hospital instead of a business book. That was a pretty good outcome. I could actually breathe easy and not have to wonder where I would be in a month. There really were so many ways it could have gone....the worst being all the deals and job offers fall through, the company liquidates, and we're out on the street. That was such a real possibility at times that I just chose the Scarlet O'Hara approach to all of it. I couldn't even think about it.
But now!! We are in PA, my husband started his new job which he loves, and we are about to buy the most beautifully fabulous house I have ever seen. I can't even believe that I get to live in a 100 year old house in PA that sits on three and half acres of beauty. I have waited soooo long for this. I have lived for three years in a log cabin with no bathtub causing me to cringe every time Pigpen got in a sandbox or in a mud puddle. Now he can get as dirty as boys can, and I can choose from 4 tubs to soak him in. I can even hose him down in the yard like a naked little jaybird if necessary, and no one will think I'm white trash because no one will see me. I feel so grateful that everything has worked out so wonderfully, but believe me, it took a lot to get to this point. This is the prime example of patients paying off. For those of you who now me, you know that I am Mrs. Instant Gratification, and not Mrs. Patience. I usually make a gaggy face at those Mrs. Patience people, but I have done my best, and I am quite proud of how I handled things. Now we can breathe easy and be poor because we have a fabulous house, instead of because we are saving for the worst case scenario. I like house poor better than that for sure!
So this is my explanation and my apology to all of the fabulously wonderful people I met in Massachusetts. I love and miss all of you! You were and are wonderful friends, and you will always be welcome in our home. I will make you delicious food, and we will have so much fun if you come to visit. I miss going to the gym. I miss our dreamy play-dates. I miss our girl's weekends. I miss our Natick Mall adventures. I miss our Wellesly shopping excursions. I miss my fabulous neighbors, and I even miss Dunks. You people made a Texas girl feel really happy in the frozen north!!!
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