I often skip blogging because I don’t know how to focus my thoughts into one subject with one title. I just realized it’s my blog and I don’t need to have one title with one subject- I can write about anything I want. I started this blog as a random mixing of my thoughts (this is my very first post all about meeting Trig and not knowing what to do since he lived in Philly). When I felt inspired I wrote. Then I started losing weight while eating tons of good food and started sharing my food diaries and recipes. That morphed into everything food with recipes, restaurant and product reviews, and random food thoughts. When I got pregnant I shared my pregnancy stories as well, and now I share everything from life with baby to monthly updates to favorite recipes and menus. So here I go in my next phase of blogging…

My nonna turns 90 today. It is hard to believe that she is 90 because she doesn’t look a day over 75. She has hardly any wrinkles which she attributes to her very simple regimen of water and a good massage with Nivea cold cream. She can remember anything she wants, which I attribute to her daily jigsaw puzzles. She is an inspiration to me as is auntie, who works hard in everything she does, never complaining for a minute. We went to RI this weekend and celebrated nonna’s big 90 with a fancy dinner, 90 + 1 candles on her special sugar free cake, and lots of time with Raffi.

It was a really special weekend for many reasons. My cousin Rawan celebrated a birthday. My cousin A received her undergrad degree and my cousin Baz received his master’s. What a weekend!

I used to miss Rhode Island a lot more than I do now. I no longer miss the familiarity of having a favorite restaurant or riding the same streets I’ve known for 20+ years. I only miss my family. If I could pick up my house AND my city of Philadelphia and plop it in the center of Cranston, RI I would be happy forever and ever. It’s hard to be away when you’re so close to everyone and hate missing out. Even as a kid I wanted to know everything going on and be with everyone all the time. While it’s hard to be far, I feel thankful to have such a great husband who will let us visit any time, even if it means a hellish drive.

I usually don’t talk about my New Year’s resolutions with anyone, but now that we are almost halfway through the year I feel like sharing. My goal is to complain less and to be a more thoughtful and considerate friend. When I was pregnant I hated every minute of it and it was hard to make it through each day, never mind be a good friend. I missed a lot of important events, and while it was out of my control I knew I wanted 2012 to be different. So far I’m doing ok with both resolutions. My brain just doesn’t function in the way some of my other friends’ do. I never think to schedule in a phone call; I call when I have a free minute and miss my friend. I also hate complainers – life is good! – so I really want to complain less. I’m working on my goals every day, and hopefully I will end 2012 in a far better place than 2011 when I was queen of complaining and not the best of friends.

Menu planning through my Babycenter challenge had fantastic results. We are spending less at the market and I’m eating better. I’m also losing weight again which feels good. We bought the BOB Revolution jogging stroller from REI this weekend (15% off, thanks to a tip from a Twitter friend) and I already had two runs with it. Even though the runs were sad compared to how I used to run, it felt amazing. I am so happy to be back out there, even if I’m a turtle and can’t run for too long. I did 30 straight minute with no walking breaks on Friday with Trig’s encouragement, and I felt like celebrating. I love that running sweat.

Even though this post had no point, it feels good to get some thoughts off my chest. Expect more posts like this.

* I have been known to fall asleep anywhere, anytime. When I was a kid I was the one with my head against the table in the middle of a live band performance, soundly asleep. Apparently, my son is the same. R was asleep in his stroller (on his belly- not sure how he managed that) in the middle of a large Palm Sunday lunch.

* When I park in the city I set my phone to 9-1-1 before walking alone anywhere, just in case I need to dial emergency.

* If I see a lot of numbers in one place (like license plates while in the car or flight numbers while at the airport), I have to add up all the digits I see until they equal a 3, 6, or 9.

* Sometimes I dream in Italian.

* Sometimes I forget English words and can only think of them in Italian. This annoys my husband to no end who thinks I’m just trying to show off. I’m not.

* I’m better at organizing my physical life over my virtual one. My desktop is covered in .jpegs and I have no system for saving my documents.

* I wear the same PJs for a few days and store them behind my pillow. I don’t know if this is weird, cool, or completely normal.

* Noise bothers me. I like watching a few shows on TV now and again, but I constantly have to ask Trig to turn the TV down. Meanwhile, I talk too loud (and too much probably) and don’t even realize it.

* I can’t pronounce my husband’s name properly. I’m embarrassed to say it in front of his family or Armenian friends.

* I always check behind the shower curtain before I use the restroom. Similarly, if I’m in a new space I open all of the closets before going to bed, just to be sure no serial killer is hiding behind there.

PS- Check out my latest Babycenter post on separation anxiety… for mom.

Tonight is the last night in our first home together. It’s the home where we:

• hosted our first dinner parties together
• had many Friday night pizza nights
• ran our first half marathon
• finished our first puzzle together
• designed new bathrooms
• brought home our baby boy
• and on and on and on

Trig & I right after I settled in to Philly, August 2009:

(Oh, how I miss those skinny arms…)

I am really excited to move to our new home tomorrow, but as I sit here on my last day in our first home I am a bit sad. We made so many great memories here, and I am reluctant to move on. Change is thrilling and exciting and fun, but it is also scary. When we got married, or when I moved to Philly, or when my husband started his new job, or when we brought home our son, I was scared but adapted quickly. I hope the same for this new change.

How will Raffi like his new home? Will I ever learn to park in our very small new parking spot? What special home will my favorite serving pieces and plates and cups find? How will Saturday mornings feel? Will the sun hit my face at 6 AM, or will it be soft and dark in my room until late afternoon?

As we take another step in the path of our lives, I recall our beautiful memories and look forward to creating new ones.

Signed,
Farewell to Fairmount

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I feel thankful to be me. To have all of you in my life. To have a special husband and an incredible son. To be happy every day of my life.

I feel blessed.

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Do hurricanes induce labor? Has anyone heard this before? There is chatter on my Babycenter birth club about whether or not hurricanes induce labor in full term women. The theory goes that the extreme change in barometric pressure can cause women to go into labor.

I’m pretty sure there is no data to back it up, but I like it. Just like I like the theory that there are more deliveries on a full moon.

We are going for a full moon baby and hope the baby comes around September 12th. No hurricane baby for us please!

I don’t know if it was the hype in my birth club or just a random occurrence, but last night I really thought I was in labor… Again! These Braxton Hicks are such little tricksters…

Anyway, off to snuggle up on the couch with mad men, a cup of tea, and  my awesome husband.

What do you think? Do hurricanes induce labor?

*Image source

Ever since I was just a teeny Rhode Islander I remember the panic that came with any mention of an impending snowstorm or hurricane. Markets would sell out of milk, bread, batteries and flashlights within minutes of a special weather update.  I understand the other items, but why the milk? In storms you expect to lose electricity which means the milk would go bad. I don’t get it.

Is the milk, bread, battery, flashlight panic a nationwide thing, or is it simply a long-lasting reaction from the famous blizzard of ’78 that hit Rhode Island?

Whatever the case, I find myself longing for Rhode Island’s pre-storm madness….

As my RI friends joked on Facebook today, make sho-wah you get bread and milk fah tha hurricane. And don’t fah-get to be cayhful!

I feel energized (and exhausted).

I’m not really sure where I fit in anymore. I attended the Healthy Living Summit this weekend, but I didn’t participate the way I normally would have. With just about a month until my due date, I am a bit preoccupied by my excitement as well as my aches and pains. Am I a healthy living blogger? I’m not sure. It doesn’t really matter. I’ve never cared what category or box I fit in, and maybe it’s good that I don’t feel that I fit in any one box well right now.

After this weekend I feel energized and inspired. If I didn’t have plans to attend the HLS, I would have surely been sitting on my couch all weekend complaining about all of the Braxton Hicks contractions I’m having as well as my lack of ability to tie my own shoes. Instead, I was forced to get out and about, where good friends and laughter distracted me from the watermelon in my belly and the waddle in my walk. It was really good for me. Although I feel absolutely exhausted physically, I am mentally refreshed.

The greatest takeaway from an event like this, for me, is the realization that blogging has brought me lifelong friends.

It is a fantastic realization to make.

And PS- Thank you all so much for your kind comments and encouragement about the end of pregnancy. A few kind words go a long way in the heart of a pregnant lady waiting in anticipation to meet her baby and feel like herself again. It was very uplifting.

*Photo courtesy of Kath

In the last 24 hours our washer/dryer busted, leaving me with 1/2 inch of water in the hallway, half of the bedroom and half of the living room. My arms are so sore from lifting heavy, soaked towels to the bathtub to ring out.  Then the supply hose to our hot water heater got a pinhole this morning and caused a secondary leak today.

And I cried in front of the maintenance guy.

It’s been an interesting 24 hours.

I realize my life could be much worse but I really have a tough time dealing with emergency home issues, especially since every single one has happened while PB was away in the two years since I moved here.

In honor of my bad day I treated myself to lunch from my favorite neighborhood place- RyBread.

Grilled cheese with tomato and well done bacon and a bag of yummy chips.

I deserved to treat myself to lunch.

Yes, that is a salad.

And vegetables.

And I ate them.

And then I didn’t get sick.

Small steps! I am starting to enjoy vegetables again, and (gasp) even cooking dinners. I cooked for my MIL last night and we had such a blast! I’ve been slow to post new recipes around here because the only ones I’ve been making are old standbys. Maybe things are changing and I’ll be RhodeyGirl again?

Only time will tell.

One thing is for certain though, I am definitely even crazier than PB thought I was when he married me. (Don’t click that unless you are crazy too…) Poor guy.

PS- Happy fake Friday to those of us that don’t have to work tomorrow! Like me!
PPS- You know your life has changed when you become really excited over a new showerhead instead of a pair of fancy shoes. And when you have a belly that bumps into things.
PPPS- I’m working on a nice budget post for those of you that noticed their absence over the last two weeks. I think I’ve been cured. At least temporarily.

I knew New York was expensive, but this winter we learned that expensive can have a whole new meaning.

PB and I have been trying to save money on groceries and going out to eat lately. I realized that I spend way too much money on our weekly groceries, and I am really bad at reigning it in. I still can’t figure out what my problem is, but I think it has something to do with the irresistible treats at Whole Foods each week. The chocolate covered almonds and $4.99/lb fennel get me every time.

Anywayyyyyy back to New York. There is always a story after a story, but I rarely feel the need to share it with the world. This one is one worth sharing. Eight of us were out for a post dinner drink at a gorgeous bar found by some fancy Yelp work by PB. The girls had sodas, two of the boys had beer, and the other two (who have been shamed into being nameless) ordered whiskey.

Oscar* suggested to Frank* that they order the Macallan, that it sounded good. So both boys ordered it and we all drank away.

Then the bill came.
To $319.73.
For sodas, beer, and two whiskeys!

The sodas were a crazy $8 each, and the beer even worse at $12 each, but the Macallan won for the night at $56 a glass!

Boys who don’t know their whiskey shouldn’t be allowed to order.

The end.

*Names have been changed to protect the guilty.