Fiesta! ...Or the Not-So-Dirty-Thirty

This weekend we had a little fiesta at the house with our friends and family for my 30th birthday. I always assumed I'd spend my 30th birthday drowning my sorrows about getting older in a whole lotta cocktails.  Well, sometimes life turns out differently than you thought it might.

This was by far the best birthday I've ever had. On Thursday, March 24th, I turned 30. But that was the last thing on my mind when I woke up that morning. It was also the day we found out our little one was a girl! I was on cloud nine all day.  The timing worked out perfectly and we decided to announce Baby B's gender to our friends at the party.

Even though I couldn't share in the cocktails on my birthday, I wanted to make sure everyone had delicious drinks to enjoy. Here's the drink table, with margaritas, sangria, virgin sangria for the preggos (which was delish!), Mexican beer and Jarritos.

We set up tables in the yard and I used paper flowers as centerpieces. I found the inspiration and the tutorial for the flowers, which are made from paper napkins, here.

It was a little breezy so my mom came up with the idea to weight them with limes. Didn't it turn out cute?

We had chicken & beef tacos with all the fixins catered by a local Mexican restaurant, plus chips, guacamole, queso, Mexican Caesar Salad and churros.

And of course there was cake! My sweet family ordered this cake with my baby picture on it. Wonder if our little girl will look anything like I did as a baby?

...And this is what happens when you give your guests tequila then leave the cake and mustache stickers unattended.

To announce our big news about Baby Girl B, we filled a pinata with pink candy and Brian broke it open in front of everyone.

(Only because I love all of you so much did I post this completely unflattering picture of B and me. I'm a mile wide and we have 5 chins between the two of us.)

When the pink candy hit the ground everyone started hollering "It's a girl!" It turned out to be a really fun way to share the news.

It was such a fun day with family and friends and I didn't spend one second feeling sad about getting older. I am so excited about what's in store for my 30th year.  

It's a....

GIRL!!!

Thursday morning we went to the doctor's office for our 20 week sonogram. First and most importantly, Baby B is healthy and everything looks great. Such wonderful news to hear.  

After we found out our baby was healthy, we asked to find out the baby's sex. However, Baby B was not feeling very cooperative. Baby was head down, face towards my back and curled up with legs crossed. I started to worry we wouldn't get to find out and Brian was worried I was going to cry. But Baby B cooperated eventually and we got the picture we needed - Baby B is a girl!!!!  

We are beyond thrilled to be having a daughter! I think Brian is a little nervous - but I'm sure that will go away by the time she's 25 or so.  :) I know he's going to be the best dad to our little girl.

We're working on choosing the perfect name for our her and I'm excited to start planning a pink nursery.  And, thanks to my mom and sister, little girl already has a pile of beautiful dresses. She's going to be one lucky little lady.  I am so excited I get to be her mom!

*In case you were wondering, the picture is from my 30th birthday fiesta this weekend. We filled a pinata with pink candy and Brian broke it open to announce to all of our friends that Baby B was a girl. It was a fun way to make the announcement. I'll share pictures from the rest of the party soon.

**Update - The picture doesn't seem to be uploading. I'm working on it - sorry!

Arnold Palmer

Tomorrow's forecast is 84 degrees and sunny.

Instead of working, Brian and I are headed here

 to stroll the course,

 
watch a little golf

and sip on a few of these. 

A beautiful spring day sipping Arnold Palmers at the Arnold Palmer Invitational - what could be better?

Recipe Rave

I made Giada's Penne with Spinach Sauce for dinner tonight and it was so good I just had to share it with you. This recipe is fast, easy, and healthy - the week night dinner trifecta. Even Brian, who will usually dismiss anything he suspects of being good for him as "okay for healthy food" loved this. I think you might too.

Fair warning - because of the raw garlic in the sauce, you're left with some kickin' breath after you eat this. Maybe not the best meal to make for that new guy you're trying to impress.

Giada's Penne with Spinach Sauce

Source: Food Network

Ingredients

1 pound whole wheat or multi grain penne (I use Ronzoni Smart Taste)
3 garlic cloves
2 ounces goat cheese
1 ounce reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
8-10 basil leaves (my addition)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

*I served with grilled chicken on top.

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the penne and cook until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.

Mince the garlic in a food processor. Add the goat cheese, cream cheese, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and half of the spinach leaves. (I tossed the basil in here.) Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Set the cheese and spinach mixture aside.

Meanwhile, place the remaining spinach leaves in a large bowl. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Spoon the pasta atop the spinach leaves in the bowl. Scrape the cheese and spinach mixture over the pasta mixture and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten (I didn't add any pasta water - didn't seem to need it). Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the Parmesan over and serve.

If you try it, let me know how you like it!

Weekend Update

A weekend review in bullet points and crappy Blackberry pictures. 

(and completely out of sequence) 

*Apparently, I thought I was Martha flippin' Stewart this weekend. I hit up the Home Depot garden center and came home with a trunk full of flowers. I should mention that I haven't the first clue about gardening. I planted the flowers in pots and if I can brag on myself a little, I think they look pretty great.  Now let's hope they live longer than a week.

*  On Friday night, I stayed in while B was out watching basketball with his buddies. I watched countless episodes of West Wing and made paper flowers for the Fiesta we're throwing this weekend. I had cereal for dinner, followed by a big bowl of ice cream. Basically, it was an awesome night.

*On Saturday, we had brunch at my favorite spot (Dexter's) with my sister and her boyfriend, then I dragged** B all over creation running errands for the party. We made a trip to Total Wine (torture), Party City, Sonic for a Strawberry Limeade (heaven) and the Hispanic grocery for fiesta necessities.

Poor boy was beat by the end of the day. (He may have been a wee bit hungover from the basketball watching festivities. He's not as young as he once was.) As a reward for his productive day, I let him make me dinner. ;) We had cheeseburgers and fries on the couch while we watched The Fighter. (I thought the movie was great. Christian Bale earned his Oscar. Not sure why Melissa Leo won though. She was good but for me it was not a particularly memorable performance.)

* On Sunday, I hit the mall, armed with determination and coupons. Gap was running its 30% off Give and Get promotion and this girl is quickly outgrowing her regular clothes. I scored some decent finds in the Gap maternity section (decent so far as maternity clothes go). I also had the famous Anthropologie birthday coupon to use. With my rapidly expanding waistline, I figured I'd find some jewelry or housewares to pick up. Well, I hit the jackpot. I found clothes to fit my preggo body - at Anthro! Happy day! I'm pretty sure I hugged the fitting room attendant on the way out.

I picked up this maxi dress

and this blouse.

Surprisingly, I think they'll work for the duration of the pregnancy as I have room to grow in both.

*On Sunday night, Kate at Elefantitas Alegres posted a recipe for soft pretzels. I saw them and it was over. I had to make them. They weren't done until after 10pm but I ate 1 1/2 anyway. SO GOOD. Thanks Kate! If you make these, don't repeat my mistake and halve the recipe - I'm missing the extra pretzels terribly. Though that rapidly expanding waistline I mentioned isn't.

And there it is - a weekend in bullet points and cell phone pictures. Happy Monday!

**Past tense of "drag" is "dragged" right? Spell check flagged it. Can't be "drug" can it? I'm having major grammar doubt right now. I'm sticking with "dragged."

Pink or Blue?

On Thursday we find out the answer to the question that's been on my mind since the day I found out I was pregnant - Boy or girl?

You know how pregnant women always say, "I don't care whether it's a boy or a girl, I just want a healthy baby?" I always assumed they were lying. That's probably terrible to say but I've always thougt that all women were harboring a secret preference they didn't want to share. Obviously, everyone wants a healthy baby. But surely some people want a healthy boy more than a healthy girl - or vice versa.  I was convinced the "healthy baby" line was just the expected, politically correct answer all women gave regardless of preference.

Well, here's the honest truth: I've always wanted a little girl. When I first found out I was pregnant I was so hopeful that this baby would be a girl. I had dreams of ruffled dresses and hair bows.  I envisioned a nursery full of pink and ruffles. 

But slowly, I started to think less about a little girl and more about a baby. Not about small things like clothes or nursery decorations, but about all the big things I'm looking forward to with the baby. First words and first steps. Teaching our little one to read and ride a bike. Christmases and birthday parties. And I realized that our baby's gender really didn't matter to me. I am beyond excited for everything that is to come, whether this little one is a boy or girl.

Now I understand all the women I've heard say that they just want a healthy baby. Because I'm one of them.

But that doesn't mean I'm not excited to find out. I am beyond excited. I cannot wait to hear whether we're going to have a son or a daughter. Finding out our little one's gender will make this all a bit more real. We'll be able to choose a name and start preparing the nursery. And Brian will finally stop looking at me like I'm crazy when I come home with baby clothes. (I hope.)

I thought it might be fun to see what all of you think. Will baby B be a boy or a girl? I put a survey in the sidebar if you want to make a guess.

One last thing. Thursday also happens to be my 30th birthday. Such a great present right?  Almost makes up for the fact that I can't have a drink. (Kidding!) We're having a little party with our friends and family on Saturday and we're planning to announce Baby B's sex at the party - which means that I won't be sharing the announcement on the blog until next Monday. I wish I could tell you all on Thursday but too many friends read the blog and I don't want to ruin the big surprise.

M.I.A.

About a month ago, I bought a day planner to help keep myself better organized. Previously, I kept my schedule on my office Outlook calendar, which syncs to my Blackberry, but I was living in fear of a technology fail which would leave me clueless and missing appointments.  So I bought the planner and filled it with the details of my life for the next few months. I meticulously logged every every work commitment, committee meeting, doctors appointment, and function I had scheduled.

You know what I did next?  I lost it.  The entire planner. I kid you not.

That's what I get for trying to get organized. Fail.

Weekly Menu

I finally got my act together and went to the grocery store last night. That means there are actually meals planned for the week in our house! This hasn't happened in quite some time. There has been a lot of Chick-fil-A and take out going on around here lately. Here's what we're eating this week:

Giada's Penne with Spinach Sauce and Grilled Chicken

Salsa Verde Sour Cream Enchiladas and Salad with Cilantro Pepita Dressing  - I made this tonight and it was amazing. I want to put the dressing on everything. FYI - I halved the recipe and it still made a ton.

Blue Cheese Burgers on the grill with oven fries and salad

Breakfast for Dinner (yay for pancakes in the middle of the week!)

I usually only plan four meals a week. Inevitably, we'll have plans a few nights a week which make cooking a meal inconvenient. Plus, I know I'll want cereal for dinner at least one night this week. :)

Do you menu plan? If so, what are you eating this week?

Two Years

This weekend, Brian and I celebrated our second anniversary. We'd talked about going away but now isn't a great time for either of us to take time off work and I didn't want to spend hours in the car traveling to a weekend destination.  I thought we'd go to dinner and reminisce but Brian had bigger and much better plans.

Friday night he told me to pack my bags - we were spending the weekend away from home. Even better - we weren't going far. He planned the perfect mini getaway - a staycation, if you will. We packed our bags and set off to - the other side of town! He'd booked a beautiful room at the Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes.

We got to the hotel Saturday morning and it could not have been a more beautiful day.

B's getting pretty good with the one handed pictures.

We went down to the pool and spent the afternoon enjoying the sunshine, munching on chips & guacamole and swimming in the pool. The weather was perfect.

Jill, just for you my crooked toe makes an appearance on the blog.

Saturday night we had dinner at Norman's - an amazing restaurant I've been wanting to try for years.

After seeing this picture, I no longer love this dress. (My first maternity dress.) Mooo.

Norman's did not disappoint. Dinner was absolutely amazing. The restaurant was kind enough to send out a champagne toast and brought me apple cider when I turned down the champagne. Chef Norman even came to the table to say hello. (And told the table next to ours a story about Charlie Trotter, his wife and Chef Norman's foie gras - which delighted me. Felt like I was privy to inside Chef gossip!)

Doubt you're interested in the menu but I wanted to include it for our memory.

We started with the fried green tomatoes and conch chowder - both were delicious. Brian had the pork tenderloin and I had the yellowtail. So good. We ate so much we didn't save any room for dessert. But the restaurant sent some out anyway.

We were absolutely stuffed and needed a long walk after dinner. There was a wedding in the courtyard and a few conventions taking place at the J.W. Marriott which adjoined our hotel. We thought about becoming wedding crashers or grabbing a lanyard and joining the convention receptions but thought better of it. :) 

Sunday morning we did some serious damage at the brunch buffet. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, cinnamon rolls, grits, fruit - oh my word, it was tasty. It reminded of us the breakfast buffet we gorged ourselves on each morning of our honeymoon.

After that, we went back out to the pool for a little more sun before heading home. I probably shouldn't have eaten quite so much at brunch - I was sporting quite the baby pancake bump.

It was the most wonderful weekend and a perfect way to celebrate our second anniversary. B - thank you so much for the amazing surprise. Marrying you is the best decision I've ever made. You make me happy each and every day. I love you.

Because it's Friday

Because it's Friday night. And because no one reads blogs on weekends. And  because I'm watching Life As We Know It. (And so far it's pretty terrible.) I thought I'd do this silly survey.

A. Age: Twenty-Nine, for 13 more days.

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you dislike: All of them? Scrubbing the tub is pretty high up there. Probably why I hardly ever do it.

D. Dogs: No thanks.

E. Essential start to your day: TV on DVD while I put on my makeup and do my hair.

F. Favorite color: Black - just check my closet.

G. Gold or silver: Either.

H. Height: 5' 8"

I. Instruments you play(ed): The bass clarinet - for approximately 3 weeks before being kicked out of the 5th grade band. Seriously.

J. Job title: Associate Attorney

K. Kids: A little one on the way.

L. Live: In a sweet little 1925 house we love - but would love even more with another bedroom and some closet space.

M. Mom’s name: Kelly (Hi Mom!)

N. Nicknames: Mel, Melly and Missy (when I was little). Quite a few more from my parents and husband which I'm not sharing. And because I'm not above embarrassing myself, a few of my friends call me Smells and Dirty Smelly.  I promise this is only because it rhymes with Mel. I bathe. Pinky swear.

O. Overnight hospital stays: I think maybe as a kid.

P. Pet peeves: People who don't say please and thank you, sunglasses indoors

Q. Quote from a movie: "Hey cowgirls, see the grass? Don't eat it."

S. Siblings: A younger sister and brother. The best people I know.

T. Time you wake up: About 7am on weekdays. Earlier on weekends.

U. Underwear: A must.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Olives.

W. What makes you run late: When I can't find anything to wear. (If you asked my sister this about me, she'd say "What doesn't?")

X. X-rays you’ve had: None.

Y. Yummy food you make: Brian's favorite is chili and cornbread. I get the most requests for my chicken salad and guacamole recipes.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Monkeys

18 Weeks

Clear space in the Louvre because it's finally here. As promised, The Bump Picture: A Self-Portrait. 

I apologize for the crappy picture but it's the best I could do. I've tried having Brian take a picture for me but I come out looking crazy in all of them. We'll keep trying but for now, self portraits it is. On top of that, I had to snap this picture in the bathroom at work because the mirrors in our house are all above sinks so they're too high to capture anything from the chest down.  

Also, I think I look more pregnant in this picture than I actually do. Maybe I'm standing funny? Maybe that's lunch bump not a baby bump? I don't know. I think I just look chubby, not pregnant. I was hoping for one of those cute little bumps that protrudes out from under the belly button. Instead I think I'm just getting a little round everywhere. What can you do? That's more than enough discussion of the picture - moving on.

I thought I'd do one of the weekly pregnancy updates I've seen on so many blogs to recap what's going on with me and Baby B right now. I probably won't do this every week as I'm sure most of the answers won't change that frequently, but we'll see.

How Far Along:  18 weeks

Size of baby:  According to my weekly email update from BabyCenter, Baby B weighs 7 ounces and is 5 1/2 inches long from head to tush - approximately the size of a bell pepper. (Creeps me out that they compare the baby to food. The week the baby was the size of an avocado, my sister said she was hungry for guacamole. Not cool, Jill, not cool. You're not going to be a great aunt if you try to eat my baby. I'm just saying.)

Total Weight Gained:  3lbs as of my 16 week appointment.

Maternity Clothes:  I bought a pair of jeans and a pair of black pants for work. Other than that, I'm still wearing my regular clothes. (The pants I picked up for the office are the most comfortable pants I've ever owned. I never want to give them up. God bless the Gap and their comfy preggo pants, which you can find here.)

Gender: We find out in two weeks (!!!) on my 30th birthday. At first I was convinced Baby B was a girl but now I have no feelings one way or the other.

Movement: I haven't felt any yet.

Sleep:  This has been the area of my life most affected by this pregnancy so far. At first I was sleeping all the time but now I'm pretty much back to normal as far as the amount of hours I'm sleeping. Unfortunately, the crazy dreams have started. Every night for the past week I have had the most vivid dreams. I remember every one of them when I wake up and some of them are downright strange. Last night I dreamt that I ended up on a plane to Hawaii all alone and my family changed their minds and wouldn't join me.

What I miss:  Meeting my girlfriends at the bar for a drink on Friday nights and ordering a glass of wine at dinner.

Cravings: Most of my cravings come and go but I've consistently loved cereal for the past 18 weeks. My favorites are Captain Crunch, MultiGrain Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Lately, I'm craving a McDonald's cheeseburger.

Aversions: Nothing comes to mind.

Symptoms:  Probably just the crazy dreams.

Best Moment this week: Every day we're another day closer to finding out whether the little one is a boy or a girl. I can't wait.

Seven Thoughts

*  Make room on the bandwagon, I bought the Mumford & Sons CD.  So far, I'm really liking it.

*  I came thisclose to leaving work at 4:00pm today to go to McDonald's for a cheeseburger. But I didn't. I think I deserve a brownie for showing such restraint.

*  Tonight, I watched 4 episodes of Jeopardy that had accumulated on my DVR. This made me oh so happy. It made Brian fall asleep on the couch. (Though he did wake up at one point, mumble the correct answer to Final Jeopardy, and then fall back asleep. Smarty pants.)

*  I'm intrigued by the popular fascination with Lent. It seems to me that many people who otherwise never mention religion love to talk about what they're giving up for Lent. My Facebook feed was full of people proclaiming their Lenten sacrifice.  What is it that attracts so many people to observe this religious tradition (or at least talk about it) yet neglect many others? When did Lent become trendy? Has anyone else noticed this? (Just making an observance - not saying this is a bad thing.)

*  I went to Target to stock up on cereal and they didn't have Captain Crunch! Clearly not a major problem, but who doesn't carry Captain Crunch? It's delicious.

*  If you ever need a reminder of how many crazy people are on the Internet, try selling something on Craigslist. Holy moly, there are a lot of weirdos out there. I  listed a desk for sale and got no less than 10 crazy emails on the first day the listing was posted. One guy just wrote "Text me your address."  Yeah, sure buddy. Can I send you a naked picture while I'm at it?  Nut job. (I probably just attracted more Internet weirdos by writing "naked picture." Crap.)

*  Despite a series of embarrassingly bad attempts to capture a "bump picture," I'm going to post one tomorrow. If this interests you, come back to check it out. And try not to laugh too hard at my lame self-portrait. Or at least don't tell me how hard you laughed.

No clever ending. That's all she wrote.

Nursery Inspiration

I have to confess - I started planning the nursery about five seconds after I found out I was pregnant. Nursery design blogs quickly accumulated under my favorites tab and I began saving pictures of nurseries I loved in a file. Sure, it would make more sense to wait until we find out whether we're having a boy or girl and then start the serious planning - but I couldn't help myself.

I want the room to fit with the design style of the rest of our house but still feel like a nursery. Our house is pretty traditional and tailored, so I'd like to carry that into the nursery. (Do you like how I'm pretending to know what I'm talking about? I don't know jack about design. I just know I tend to like traditional over modern and clean and simple over fussy and detailed.)

I don't want a theme but I would like to keep the room cohesive with a color scheme. (There I go again, trying to talk like an interior designer.)  I never expected I'd be quite so traditional, but it turns out I like blue for a boy's room and pink for a girl's room.

Here are pictures I'd use as inspiration for a baby boy nursery. 

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I'm having a harder time finding inspiration pictures for a girl's nursery. I have an idea in my head but I haven't seen any pictures that capture quite what I'm envisioning. A lot of the girls nurseries I've seen are gorgeous but a bit frillier and well, more pink, than I'm picturing.

I can't decide whether I would want to go with a soft pink with khaki accents like in this picture below:

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Or a pink room with green accents:

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So, that's what I'm thinking for our little one's nursery. I just have to wait another few weeks to find out whether to start shopping for pink or blue.

I think I'll use that time to continue the search for an upholstered glider that costs less than a Honda Accord.  Pottery Barn Kids wants $1100 and your first born child for theirs - but it sure it is comfy! (I'm kidding PBK. Please don't send hate mail. I love your adorable baby things. Pinky swear.) 

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Saturday Fun

Wish me luck - I'm going bowling.  And I don't mean Wii Bowling.

I mean the stinky, smelly, you-have-to-wear-shoes-someone-else-has-already-worn kind.

The last time I went bowling had to be at least 15 years ago. And for good reason. Did I mention you have to wear yucky used shoes?  

The bowling today is for charity so I'm putting on my big girl pants and going with a smile on my face. I just hope I don't bust my pregnant butt and go sliding down the lane behind my ball. Because that would probably be worse than the shoes.

Happy Saturday!

UPDATE: Bowling was fun! I didn't embarrass myself and actually bowled a decent game. Who knew?