2012 July | whoorl

Sucker for Stripes

July 30, 2012

My love for stripes has been documented many times (this is probably considered a problem by some), but my adoration is still going strong. Gilt Baby & Kids has some great nautical-inspired pieces on sale right now, so I’m thinking you must check them out soon. You can sign up for a free Gilt account here.

(The next few posts will be image heavy because, trust me, you don’t want to hear me talk about The House.)

((It’s all we talk about! The House That Was Ripped From Our Hands! And Our Hearts! We’re So Pathetic!)

(((Let’s drive by it again.)))

COMMENTS (7)

Blue

July 25, 2012

Oh, you guys. I’ve been waiting to post for the past several days – just daydreaming of a fun way to tell you that we were in escrow on our first house. Not only our first house, but THE house. Our house. The house that has kept D and I up into the wee hours of the night for the past few weeks, giggling and planning our future. Picking out paint colors, looking through floor samples, measuring spaces…planning the start of a new chapter in a place that could truly be ours. A mid-century, ranch-style home that hadn’t been on the market for over 40 years, it needed a decent amount of work, but it was perfect for us, and we were so ready to take the next step.

We didn’t get it.

Call it a lack of communication, call it first-time home buyer naiveté, call it whatever…we didn’t get it. We were outbid. Totally blindsided, and literally sick with regret.

I always heard that buying a house was an emotional process, but I am just baffled at how upsetting this has been for me. The only thing I can compare it to is a horrible breakup. The sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, the ridiculous amount of tears…I’m at a loss. I just want to rewind, but I can’t. I truly felt in my heart of hearts that the home was meant to be ours, but it’s not. It’s someone else’s, and we just need to accept it and move forward.

But for now, I’ll be blue for a little bit longer.

COMMENTS (29)

Let’s Talk Cookbooks

July 20, 2012

I love my cookbooks, however most of my collection above involves a decent amount of preparation. I don’t know about you, but the hours of 5-7pm around my home are insane. D is not home yet, the kids are hungry and wanting attention every minute, and I’m a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs myself. It’s like clockwork – 5pm strikes and Wita (the independent girl whose new favorite phrase is “STAND BACK”) suddenly becomes whiny and attached to my leg while I’m trying to chop and stir and cook and UGGGGHHHHHHH. Crazy-making, I tell you. Combine all the above factors, and I can’t possibly make an elaborate (or even semi-elaborate) dinner.

So! I decided it was time to add a few more books to my arsenal, with a specific focus on three elements: quick, simple, and healthy. I put a call out on Twitter and my Facebook page, and got tons of great responses. I’ve included the top 8 most popular books, in descending order of the most mentions. (You can check out many more suggestions on the Facebook post here, and by the way, I’ve order #1 and #2. Can’t wait to try them out.)

I hope these suggestions are helpful, and I’d love to hear if you have any additions!

1. Dinner: A Love Story

2. Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

3. America’s Test Kitchen: Simple Weeknight Favorites

4. Jamie Oliver’s Meals in Minutes

5. Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast

6. Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express

7. Our Best Bites

8. The Stocked Kitchen

COMMENTS (13)

Bras and Panties and Shapewear, Oh My!

July 18, 2012

I’m talking with Margaret from The Lingerie Goddess about bras and saggy post-breastfeeding boobs and panty lines and girdles (uh, I mean “shapewear”) and all that good stuff in this week’s episode of the SJ Show. I also managed to get fitted for a bra on camera because that’s always a good time. I was internally doubting my measured bra size (A C-cup? How can I be a C-cup? In my dreams!), but it all makes sense now that my Facebook page peeps have set me straight. (Not all C-cups are the same, as it’s all relative to your band size…I measured as a 30C, but was envisioning the cup size of a 36C and thinking there was no way my lil’ guys were fitting into that. But it’s all about the band size, ladies! A C-cup in a 30 band size is much smaller than a C-cup in a 36 band size. The more you know. Also, now that I’m typing this out, it all seems very rudimentary, so I apologize if you are stabbing your eyes out with a fork. Hello? Are you napping?)

(Also, my life would be a sooooo less lovely without the ladies on my Facebook page and the awesome ideas/wisdom/products they recommend. Last night I asked about favorite cookbooks for fast, simple, healthy meals, and 35+ comments later….don’t worry, I’m putting together a round up post for Friday.)

Back to boobs – if you’re looking to update your lingerie drawer, this episode might be for you. (I really want to try the seamless panties and boyshorts by Commando that are featured in the video- have you tried them?)

This post brought to you by parentheticals.