Erik and Joe Visit

This past weekend my brother Erik and his husband Joe came to visit and we had THE BEST time! It was so great to see them especially since we will not see them again until Christmas.

They got here in the early afternoon on Sunday and Sunday night we went to PF Chang's (Erik had never been) and then saw The Skeleton Twins. It was a tough movie to watch, there is a lot about depression and suicide, but I really love Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader (as do my brother and Joe) so they made the movie very enjoyable. I'm glad we got to see it.

Monday we headed to Smolak Farms (our third trip in the past week, I guess you could say we like it there) and in the afternoon made and decorated "haunted house brownies."

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to my favorite peeps :) We had a nice low key night and I’m really looking forward to all the new and exciting things to come this year. I’ve never been one to make resolutions, I think it’s just silly. Also silly – how RIDICULOUSLY packed the gym is right now. Clearly a lot of people made the standard resolution to get in shape/lose weight. As of right now, I like getting bigger just fine – heehee.

I am sick again – I don’t know if it’s something going around in the office, but it’s really frustrating. I try not to be a whiner, but I am just SO tired and SO achy. Hopefully it passes soon. I still try to stretch and do some mild yoga, but when my nose is dripping everywhere, it just isn’t pretty.

For those of you that like to read, I just finished The Hunger Games Trilogy for the second time and honestly wanted to just restart it for a third. It is one of the best series I have read in a very long time. I forgot about certain parts and it just made the books that much better the second time around. I’ve joked with my friend Jenn saying the baby better come early or late because the movie is in theaters March 23rd (and I’m due March 17th). Hopefully I’ll get the chance to see it.

Things are pretty low key for us, I’m trying to make very little plans and just relax for the next few months. It is AMAZING how few people I talk to (or talk to me), and I have to admit I kind of like it. It’s helping me realize who my true friends are. The less stress and aggravation I have, the better, and I’m really enjoying the quiet time. I got rid of Facebook in August, before announcing I was pregnant – I didn’t want unsolicited “advice” and comments from people, and with so many supposed "friends" on there, I knew it would be incredibly annoying.

Something else I thought of - you know how people always say "well when they had kids, they changed?" Well it is true, and I have to admit, I like the change that is coming. True friends are your friends no matter what, yes it gets harder to hang out or make plans when children are in the picture, but it's a simple effort to be made if you really care about a person. (and I'm saying this not even having a baby yet!)

Nick set up the nursery!! It's still a work in progres, but the crib, changing table, and glider are all put together and it looks amazing. I give him major credit for doing it all in one day - he is amazing. We are waiting on things like the mattress, changing pad, etc., so once it's all together I will post pics.

Also, exciting news - we bought a car yesterday and we’re picking it up tonight. I have had my Lancer since 2002- It only has about 85,000 miles on it. The reason we “upgraded” is because the Lancer is terrible in the snow and does not test well in crash ratings. I obviously need something safer and that has a bit more room with the babe on the way. I’m not a person that’s into “fancy” stuff (unless we count expensive body scrubs, heehee), but we got a great deal on a 2009 Nissan Rogue. It is bright blue which I love, and it was a lease so it was very well maintained. I really liked the way it drove, just like a car, and was surprised how instantly comfortable I was driving it. We know several people that have them and we have heard very good things.

Also, congratulations to Nick's cousin Bobby and his wife Melanie for welcoming their beautiful daughter, Addison Paige, last week. She is a perfect little peanut and I can't wait to meet her. Everyone is healthy and doing well.

xoxo

Where does the time go?

I can't believe I'm almost at the halfway point of my pregnancy. I feel like I just found out yesterday that we were having a baby. It's really very crazy. That's the only way I can put it.

One thing I never thought I'd do? Drink milk. Like, milk out of a glass. I know I never got enough calcium. I like cheese, I like ice cream, but only so much. So, I try to drink a glass or two a day to make sure I'm getting enough. I don't like it, but I do it. I drink low fat organic, and it's ok. I was drinking soy milk, but I have it in my head that cow's milk is "better" although the doctor said either is fine. By the way, I did also have some delicious ice cream tonight. It's made by Hood and it's actually low fat frozen yogurt - PB cups and fudge swirl. Try it if you can! I'm good about sticking to the serving size (I don't know how I do it...but I think eating really slow helps), but it is hard to not go back for seconds.

This weekend was a very busy one. Saturday I went to the gym for the first time in about a week. I have been exercising at home, but have been a bit tired so it's been difficult. I try to stretch for a few minutes each day because my hips, back, neck and shoulders have been achy. My neck and shoulders usually ache anyway, so now I've added hips and back to the fun. I'm glad it doesn't seem to be nerve related, and hope it stays that way. I haven't experienced any leg cramps/charley horses yet, and hope those stay away too! I'm honestly not complaining, because I know how bad some people have it! I feel very lucky to be feeling this good.

We registered at Babies R Us Saturday, as I talked about in a prior post, and I think I'm about done with touching the registry. I think I'll make myself crazy (as if I'm not already ;) and we can always buy anything else we need as we go along. A VERY special thank you to my friend Paula for giving a ton of input and help. My registry wouldn't have looked nearly as good without her! And thank you to my cousin Amber too - she recently had an adorable baby girl named Katie and she just emailed me some ideas as well. My friend Jen from high school already emailed me about a few items she is going to purchase elsewhere, so now I'm starting to get excited. Maybe this baby thing isn't so bad after all...heehee.

Sunday was another busy day. I woke up very early and went grocery shopping, then met my friend Jenn at the movies and then lunch. We saw Paranormal Activity 3 - I know I am in the minority when I say I LOVED the first two. I own them both and love the anticipation of being scared, and thought both of them had very satisfying endings (the ending of the second was awesome in my opinion). But this last movie should have never been made. The background was not well explained and I was left with way too many questions, and it was set up for a 4th movie, which I am not interested in at all. Major disappointment!

Saturday afternoon we went to Nick's cousin and his wife's house, Sam & Aisling. They recently moved from a townhouse in Arlington to a house in Wakefield. The house is great! Lots of space and very homey. A great backyard and a screened in area that will be so much fun in the summer. Their son Nicky is 3 1/2 and he is so smart- he already reads well and is such a cutie. Aisling was also a great help - she and I are very similar - blunt, straightforward, to the point - no BS :) So we get along great! She also talked to me about baby stuff in general and gave me a bunch of clothes - very excited! Now we just need to start working on the nursery so I have somewhere to put them. When we got home I cooked food for my friend Katy who just had a baby and also made Halloween brownies for my co-workers. I have a Betty Crocker calendar up in my cube at work (only me...hey it was free) and there was a picture of these brownies we have talked about every day in October. I managed to resist eating any, but were told they were delicious - and very easy!

Here's a pic:

And here's the recipe:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/trick-or-treat-brownie-cupcakes/e60918bc-0554-41c2-816d-4372a63bccd4#?st=7&term=halloween%20brownies

I couldn't find the small snickers or whatever they were using, so I used Rolos...and it went like this: one for the top of the cupcake...one for my mouth.

One more simple and delicious recipe? Nick's cousin Sam made this for dessert: 15 oz can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, pumpkin) and a box of chocolate cake mix (dark chocolate if you can find it). Mix and put in a bundt pan. Bake until done. You'd be AMAZED at how good it is. You can do the same with a box of spice mix and pumpkin - perfect for fall.

And...I just addressed my Christmas cards. Yep, Christmas. Let's hope no one moves before December.

Apparently I wasn't as tired as I thought...I'm very chatty tonight. Off to take a bath and lay around now!

xoxo

Crystal

Recent Movies I've Seen

I saw a few movies recently and thought I’d give you my quick opinion/review, in case you were thinking about seeing any of them.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

I actually saw this movie a few months ago but forgot about it until I was at the theater last night. Steve Carrell is incredibly endearing as a middle aged “loser” whose wife of several years wants a divorce. He meets the oh so gorgeous Ryan Gosling in a bar one night, and Gosling’s character decides to help him “find himself” again. Although the movie was a bit long, I really enjoyed it. Carrell is one of my favorite actors – he is just so likable, and Gosling and Stone have great chemistry on screen. The ending had a twist that I never saw coming, although once it happened I couldn’t figure out how I didn’t catch it. I don’t want to give away too much, but I’d say see this flick if you can still find it in the theater.

50/50

This was a great flick. It wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be (or as the previews lead you to believe), but the cast was fantastic. I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an amazing actor. Seth Rogen was his usual screwball self, but endearing in parts. The chemistry between JGL and Anna Kendrick was wonderful, she has really grown on me, considering how annoying I found her in the first Twilight movie (but she grew on me there too- and was fantastic in Up In the Air). If you aren’t familiar with this story, it is loosely based on the life of comedy writer Will Reiser who is friends in real life with Seth Rogen. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the age of 27 and had to go undergo chemotherapy to shrink the tumors and then hopefully have them removed. I won’t give away the ending, but I thought this was a great film and definitely worth the ticket out. See it if you have a chance.

Dream House

I think my one sentence text to my friend with my review will sum this up perfectly: Dream House…shoulda been called Sh!t House.
Ok, so I saw this for $4 at a first showing in Tyngsboro this past weekend. I love Rachel Weisz, mainly because I am obsessed with The Mummy & The Mummy Returns. I am also always interested to see a movie where the two main characters fell in love in real life (Weisz & Craig were married recently). But, the acting was terrible, the story was terrible, and I really wanted to leave the theater. There was one twist that I did not see coming, but it still couldn’t save the story. Do not waste your time on this!

What’s Your Number?

It’s ok to laugh at me for seeing this. I saw this with my mother in law Tami last night – we both think Anna Faris is adorable – we weren’t expecting something great, just cute and funny, and that is what we got. Chris Evans – delicious on screen! Yes, just about all of the funny parts were in the previews, but I still thought this was a cute, nonsense flick. Wait for the DVD.