Pipsburgh.

I just said to my husband, "I need to go downstairs and write."  It's been too long.  It's crazy how much I've come to depend on blogging as an outlet for all of the thoughts that swirl around in my head all day long.  And when I go seven or eight days without writing anything I start to feel all bottled up and antsy.  Kind of like I'm assuming Georgia feels when she sits in a five point harness car seat for six hours on a road trip.  However, I will say she is a champion traveller.  Just the best. 

And that's part of the reason for my little hiatus.  We left last Thursday for Pittsburgh (Pipsburgh as G says) to visit my sister who moved there mid-July.  I've been there a few times in the past as I had a room-mate in college who was from there and I knew Georgia was up for the trip since she made it back and forth to Florida for spring break this year and was as happy as a clam both down and back.

We had a great time.  G is a fantastic little road trip partner.  She tells me about everything (EVERYTHING) that we see out the window, "There is a cloud.........,(and actually the clouds looked really amazing on the way out there....in fact....here's a picture I took while driving)......

........."there is a gray car just like ours--but ours is bigger, there is a gas station--do we need gas?, there is a blue truck, no a green truck, no a lellow truck, there is that creepy guy (upon seeing a billboard that I have no idea what it was--we were past it when it registered what she'd said), there is a deer--I think it is sleeping."  And the other thing about Georgia on a road trip that is very unusual for.....anyone.........is that she never falls asleep.  Never.  She talks continuously from the time we get in the car to the time we exit.  Even while she's watching a Barney movie, a Tinkerbell movie, and Charlie and Lola--she just gives me an update every few seconds on what everyone in the movie is doing, wearing, eating, saying, and singing.

Ahhhhh.  You just have to embrace it and say to yourself, "I love that little voice and I'm going to suck up every bit of it because one day she won't do this; she won't be the narration to my life and I'll miss it like crazy.  I'll say things like, "Remember when Georgia could talk for six hours straight when we drove to Pennsylvania?"  "Remember when Georgia talked for seventeen hours on the way to Florida?"  I will.  I know I will.  I'm not being facetious. 

So anyway, back to Pittsburgh.  We rolled in Friday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon and we packed so much fun into two days.  It was great.  Pittsburgh is a great little/big city.  The landscape is so different from flat Michigan that it's hard to believe it's really so close to us, there are six bridges that go back and forth across three rivers that you can basically see from anywhere you are in the city, and it feels packed full of more history than anywhere in Michigan. 

My sister is working for American Eagle at their corporate headquarters so we headed to her office to take a look around--such a great working environment--right out of a magazine or movie complete with racks of sample clothing everywhere, floor to ceiling stills from photo shoots, and a vibe that you just don't find in most places of employment.  We went shopping for some great clothes at 77 Kids (American Eagle's kids store) and purchased among other things these amazing Minnetonka ankle boots for G......ahhh....I love these!

We took walks around Ellen's apartment and tried to convince Georgia to play in this great fountain.  She was having none of it so we found this little tiny fountain instead that was buried in the back of an alley and let her play in that. 

We went to a Dora the Explorer show at the children's museum.  We were thinking we'd have to leave once Georgia caught a glimpse of the actors in costume and her heart rate sped up to unhealthy levels from fear but as soon as Dora smiled at her she was a fan and couldn't wait to talk to Dora at the end of the show.  Dora told her that her outfit matched Dora's and I've heard about that little exchange at least one hundred times since we've returned.  I think she's star struck. 

And we took an incline ride up Mt. Washington to see the city.

And....the following picture contains a couple of things that are fun.....but mostly......Georgia's face!  What is she looking at? What is so great at the bottom of the mountain?  Who knows--but man--she is super excited about it!

All in all a fantastic little trip and we can't wait to go back.  Ellen's new city is a great one and we're super happy that she's so happy. 

Tutu's.

G and I went grocery shopping on Friday.  I let her bring her own grocery cart again because...........it eliminates the arguments about those ridiculous "car" grocery carts that sit at the front of the store like a beacon and temper tantrum magnet for all toddlers.  Seriously--if you own a grocery store and keep those in your store.....most moms despise that part of your establishment.......despise.  They are filthy, they aren't even big enough to actually hold a whole trip worth of groceries, they are cumbersome to push around the store, and where I shop they actually charge you to use them.  A few trips ago as I was telling Georgia that they were once again broken...."what a bummer," the greeter had the nerve to interrupt me with a, "oh no honey--they're not broken....they work just fine." 

Really lady? Really?  I think you need to get back to passing out those fliers. 

So, if she brings her own grocery cart that absolutely takes the cake.  However, along with the grocery cart comes a whole new world in Georgia's line of sight.  A rack of tutu's was the first thing we came across; after the car carts, tables of stuff that is sticky and will stain, and stuffed animals the size of our house of course. 

It's funny that Georgia zeroed in on these because she has never really been pulled to dress-up stuff.  I've tried believe me.  Make-up, scarves, shoes, tiara's, fedora's, sunglasses, and everything in between.  She just takes it off and asks if we can go find ants and rocks.  Sure....should I grab a magnifying glass too so we can burn those ants and complete the whole feminine mystique package?

I'm kidding.  I love the whole bug thing.  I bought her an ant farm this summer and was more engrossed in it than she was. 

But back to the tutu's.  She really wanted one.  She picked it up, held it up against her waist, and told me it was so fresh and cozy.  Sold.  It's yours girl.  Put that baby in the cart and we'll get you home and get your cute butt into it ASAP.  She talked about it the rest of the trip.

And of course, upon arriving home we donned that tutu, turned up Ice, Ice Baby and got down. 

This is why I love my little girl.  She'll wear this tutu, she'll pick up ants, she'll be a sweaty mess, she'll ask to have her toes painted, she'll announce to a whole room that she just went poopy, she'll beg for me to put lip gloss on her, and she'll beg for more steak, "because I like to eat a lot of food."

Family Secrets

We've all got 'em..........right?  If you don't....right. Here's ours (one of ours anyway--I'll keep that incident on the sand dunes with mom a few years back under wraps for now and Ellen's catch phrase snafu about Liberace--wait, that's not really a secret....just a great laugh)......it's called jewelryism.  That's right.  Jewelryism.  My mom, my sister, and myself can't stop buying jewelry.  And I'm not talking about the good stuff really....the cheap costume stuff that you can hoard and not feel that guilty about until you look at your bedroom wall where it's all precariously hanging and say, "What is wrong with me?" 

"I need a better way to organize all of this."

"So I can buy more."
And now would be a good time to warn you that you will really learn nothing of consequence in this entry--nothing heart warming about your children, nothing that thought provoking, and nothing very self-reflective.  Let's just call this what it is--a really humbling glance into the shallowness that is my addiction to jewelry.

When you look at the mess pictured below I want you to understand that I have a very mild case of jewelryism compared to my mom.  I'm sure I'll continue to get worse as I age--she has 28 years on me so that's quite a head start.  But just so you know (and to make myself feel better) she not only has a whole wall of the stuff....but two full dresser drawers (and I'm talking dresser drawers that you could store about fifteen huge wool sweaters in a piece), as well as random little bowls and baskets of jewelry.  And, I'm in no way saying this is bad--believe me, my sister and I reap the benefits of this if we're home and need something to wear with an outfit.  But I do come by this honestly and I've thankfully embraced that there is no cure for it. 

Here's the thing....there are layers upon layers of necklaces hanging on this poor little tie rack and I generally have no idea what I even own so don't end up wearing about 70% of it.  And the earring rack above it?  A huge pain.  The earrings get caught in it and when I'm trying to remove them at least two other pairs fall off onto the floor into a pair of shoes or something and I can't find them.

So I decided to tackle this problem with a solution I found on pinterest.  And it was so easy.  I used a cork bulletin board that had a wood frame, some spray adhesive, some cheap linen fabric, and upholstery tacks.  I sprayed the surface of the bulletin board (the cork side) and smoothed my fabric over that to make sure it would stay in place.  Then, I wrapped the entire border of the bulletin board in the linen that was just hanging over the edge (make sure you get a big piece), and finished it off with the upholstery tacks.  And then of course like all good DIY projects I staple gunned the crap out of the fabric on the back.  That's it!

I hung it up with nails and then I put nails in the board where I wanted them for the jewelry to hang on. Truth be told, I could really use two of these boards.  But, I refuse for now out of some kind of stance about not needing more jewelry, but really who am I kidding?  Instead I'm going to get rid of some of it (not any you see pictured of course--other jewelry that didn't make the photo). 

I breathe a little easier when I look at this; organization does that for me. 

This too shall pass {Catching my breath}

On Saturday night Chris and I were watching "The Adjustment Bureau." It turned out to be a hugely disappointing movie, in my opinion.  I really thought we were about to embark on a political thriller (which is my kind of movie) and instead it turned out to be a weird love story that I really could have cared less about in terms of the two people getting together, it was poorly explained, and it starred Matt Damon who I usually love but his little ill-informed and not-thought-out quote to reporters this week regarding {bad} teachers really annoyed me......so I found myself checking in and out.  Towards the end of the movie I wandered over to our collection of photo albums and started flipping through our most recent one.  It took my breath away.

Not because it was so unbelievably beautiful and artistically laid out--I do them online so they can't be that original.....but because Georgia is a different kid now than she was in some of those pictures; heck--many of the pictures and they are only from the last year.  I got that little panicky feeling in my chest like you get when you're ticking through the list of everything you have to get done and you realize there is no way you can fit it all in; that kind of panic.  I couldn't believe that the kid sleeping down the hall was the same one in that picture book. 

Where was the time going?  Was I appreciating it enough?  Was I making the most of it?  Was I remembering enough of it?  Was I stopping in the middle of stuff that seemed trivial and burning it into my memory because I know that it's those "trivial" things that I miss once they're gone.  Like how Georgia used to say "moo moo" for milk, how she used to play peek-a-boo with me under her crib bumper, how she used to say "bouncy bouncy" as her way to ask if she could jump on my bed, and on and on and on and on. 

Sometimes I wonder if I'm playing enough with Georgia.  Really playing with her.  Playing house, playing vet, playing store, playing doll house, playing restaurant.  Sure--I let her "help" me with laundry, I've given her some old make-up to put on with me every morning while I'm getting ready (and wow....does she put it on), she waters the flowers with me, she plays in the kitchen sink while I make dinner, and loves to color next to me while I'm doing projects.  And yeah, of course I play all of the things I mentioned above with her too--but am I doing it enough?  Am I making those memories enough with her....because....."this too shall pass." 

That saying often refers to negative events, but I think it can be applied to good stuff too.  Georgia loving me to play play doh with her--this too shall pass.  Georgia wanting to put make-up on me--this too shall pass.  Georgia dancing with me like a crazy woman in our living room to Pitbull--this too shall pass.  Georgia wanting to hide with me under sheets on the bed--this too shall pass.  It truly will.  And yeah, I know we'll move on to other great things, but I want to remember them all. 

So yesterday, we had a catch our breath day.  We just played--the three of us all day.  Georgia used to be a great alarm clock for church....she'd wake up at 7 a.m. on the dot and we'd be good....lately however, she's been sleeping until 8:30 and we forgot to set our alarms yesterday.........so...........we stayed home and had pancakes for breakfast on the deck, took Barney for a walk, had Popsicles outside, read books, went for ice-cream, went on a bike ride, made a scavenger hunt for Georgia in the back-yard, did puzzles, and played outside.  It was great.  It's great to catch your breath like that and cement those "this too shall pass" moments in your memory--both ours and hers.