Bebe

We got to go down and see J&L and bebe Annie over Memorial Day weekend, and got to spend a ton of time with her!  She's on more of a schedule now, that alternates between feeding, changing, playing, sleeping, changing, and repeat.  It would exhaust me but J&L have it down like champs.  And they seem oddly calm and happy with everything.  I think I'd be a frazzled mess but they're doing awesome!  I'm trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with this precious angel bebe before the move - but don't talk to me about leaving her because I might cry on the spot.  Here are some pics!

A cute pic J&L sent me.

Uncle Drew and bebe Annie.

I love my Dad!  Yay! Victory!

Umm who is this guy eating my hands?

Happy family.

Surprise!  There's a camera in my face.

I may squeeze her face off.

My Aunt Lauren is so hilarious! She makes me laugh and laugh.

Mmmmm these fingers are delicious.

There's plenty more pics of this angel where these came from, so again, stay tuned.

NYC Trip #7

My b-fri lives in NYC so I usually try to go up there once or twice a year to see her.  But this trip was different - this trip was with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law!  That was definitely a different dynamic but a fun one no doubt.  We had a great time walking around, eating, seeing musicals, and hanging out with Mere and my brother-in-law, Blakesta.

We got in on Friday night, where we met Mere at Eataly for a drink, and then on to Cafeteria for dinner - where I got the Chicken and Waffles, the size of my head.

The Flatiron Building at dusk.

Blakesta and Mere.  Young love?

The next day, we went on a Food Tour!  Which, if you know me at all, is generally something I do every trip to NYC.  Because I'm a Food Pornographer and am not apologizing for it.  It was the Nolita Tour with Foods of NY and it was awesome.

Drop love, not bombs!
(The wall outside of the Little Cupcake Bakeshop.)

Some of the best pizza we've ever had at Emporio.

Sweet corn tacos from Tacombi.

We then walked around all over NYC, got ready for the evening, and went to see How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, with Nick Jonas!  AHHHHHHHHHH!  And we had a delicious meal at Joe Allen beforehand.

Me trying to do a cool Felicity style shot by the Subway, but failing miserably cause I couldn't keep a straight face.  Oh, and I'm not Keri Russel.  

Nick Jonas!!

On Sunday, Mere and I clowned around in her apartment, and then met the rest of the gang at Peels after their visit to the 9/11 Memorial.  We had some strong Texas 75s and the Build-a-Biscuit!  DELISH!!  Then there was more walking around, more pizza, and Godspell!  The play was incredible, and Hunter Parrish from Weeds made a little cameo appearance.  And now Beth and I are obsessed with him.  Sorry not sorry.

Texas 75 at Peels: Vodka + Champagne + Lemon

Friends!  On the stoop of her fancy new apartment.

Godspell.

The last day (Monday) rained cats and dogs, but Susan, Beth, and I spent time shopping near Herald Square and we scored a new pair of shoes each.  Thanks Suse!  We then ventured over to SMAC, a restaurant that only sells mac and cheese.  Right up my alley.

Cheesy happy deliciousness.

A great time was had by all - thanks to Susan for a really wonderful trip!

FAQs

I thought I would address some Frequently Asked Questions that we get a lot about our move.

Why Dublin?

Please see the previous post.  Cause it's there?  Why NOT Dublin?  I don't know.

Have you ever been to Ireland?

Nope.  I know nothing about it except that it's green and they drink Guinness.  Which sounds like a country that I wanna be a part of.

When do yall leave?

Tentatively...Monday, July 2.  It's a lot sooner than we thought, which kinda made me panic.  But lots of things make me panic, as you'll soon learn.

Will you (Lauren) be working?

I don't know - that's a great question.  We initially thought I'd be able to work through Drew's green card, but evidently that's not the case.  I have to get an Irish company to give me an offer letter and then it shouldn't be a problem getting a permit to work.  The only problem is actually GETTING that offer letter.  They're in the middle of a recession and I have to convince them that they won't have to sponsor me!  (Which costs them money.)  This looks like it may prove difficult.  Which makes me panic.

Drew and I are both stressed about this aspect for different reasons.  Drew is worried I'll be bored, alone, depressed, and won't meet anyone.  That I'll spend my days sulking and waiting for him to get home.  And while he DOES have a point and those ARE valid concerns, I'm just...not as worried about that.  My main concern is MONEY.  (Surprise!  Who knew.)  We need two incomes.  We want to travel.  I want to travel.  I want to go all over Europe/the world while we're there and we need MONEY to do that.  Drew said "If you don't have a job, you'll be bored and depressed."  To which I replied: "No, I'll be depressed if we can't TRAVEL!"  Which is true.  I. WANT. TO. TRAVEL.  I feel the need to qualify that statement because others may be reading this now, but...I can't.  It's my life damnit!  I need to live out my dream!  So sue me.

What are you going to be doing over there?

If I'm not working, then...I don't know.  Yet again.  Drink Guinness or Jameson all day?  Join a women's group?  Drew has already looked up Expat blogs and groups and organizations to join so I'll probably have to force myself to do that.  Which gives me anxiety.  

Where will you live?

Who knows.  We'll stay in a PwC sponsored hotel for 2 weeks and are expected to hit the ground running, trying to find a flat.  Drew's new hobby is researching apartments and neighborhoods over there.  We think we know the area in which we wanna live but our place will most likely be the size of a closet.  Oh well.  It's a Dublin closet and that's what counts!  

What's the weather like?

It evidently stays mostly in the 30s and 40s in the winter, and 60s and 70s in the summer.  It rains a lot.  I don't love the rain.  That will be an adjustment...like everything else in my life I guess.  Ah well.

What are you taking?

Most of the apartments come fully furnished, so we really aren't bringing any furniture.  We packed up a bunch of kitchen stuff, wall decor, tons of clothes, air mattresses (for our guests!), barware (duh), shoes, pictures, books, DVDs, a DVD player, and tons of random items we didn't think we'd find in inexpensive abundance over there.  Items such as...ranch dressing packets, taco seasoning, bulk shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, Q-tips, makeup, blah blah blah.  It'll take about two months for our stuff to get there by sea, so we gotta do it soon.  

Is Drew bringing his golf clubs?

Yes.  Absolutely.  Ireland has some of the best courses in the world evidently.

Can we come visit for St. Patrick's Day?

YES!  Or any other time of the year!  We have a luxurious air mattress for company, and maybe one day we'll even have a two-bedroom apartment.  Come one, come all.

I think that covers most of them we get.  If there are any others, just ask!

I Guess It's Official

I told my bosses and coworkers last Friday about Ireland.  And that I'm leaving in a month.  It was hard and not pleasant.  I thought about waiting until Monday but I figured I better get it over with and not have it hanging over my head all weekend.  

I nervously walked into my boss' office:

Me: Can I talk to you for a second?

Boss (her face dropping):  Oh shit.  When are you leaving?  Where are you going?

Me: Um, well, it's not like that, I...well I...

And then I promptly burst into tears and sobbed and squeaked my way through the rest of the meeting, explaining that Drew was going to Ireland for his job, I was going with him, my last day will be in a month, we leave in July, etc.  She was very nice and very supportive.  And then I had to do the whole thing over again with my other boss, the rest of my coworkers, our Executive Director, and then my clients - where I may or may not have teared up again.  I'm relieved it's over and everyone knows and it's out in the open (and I can openly blog, Tweet, Facebook, etc.) but it's still hard and GOING to get harder, the closer I get.  Goodbyes always hang over my head and cause me major anxiety - and usually the anxiety is worse than the goodbye.  It'll be a busy next few weeks so I better get my shit done and make it count.

Big News

So...I started this blog a few years ago, in the midst of yet another PwC busy season where I was bored and lonely, thinking I would track our lives.  I wrote about random trips, food, weekend activities, stupid stuff.  Boring.  Boring as hell, in fact.  And I often said that I didn't want to start/continue blogging until I had something fun to report on - a baby, a move, a new found passion for cooking or running or any other hobby, etc.  And while the arrival of my precious puddin pie, Annie, counts as that, we have some other news that I've alluded to - something I can finally start writing about:

Drew and I are moving to Ireland in July!

Ever since Drew lived in England in junior high and ever since I lived in Spain in college, we have wanted to return to live for a few years.  I even remember the conversation we had before we got married about the seriousness of our desire to do this, making sure we were on the same page.  When Drew started working at PwC, we knew there might be a possibility we could go - they have offices all over the world!  So he got the process started last fall.  

The months that followed were some of the longest of our lives.  He talked to London, thought about Amsterdam, toyed with Luxembourg, and he even almost got talked in to Melbourne - and never in a trillion years did we think we'd end up in Dublin.  It became an option, and he talked to lots of people there, and things seemed to be falling into place.  I'd still have lots of momentary panic, like...Dublin?  Seriously?   I kept looking for "signs" on what we were supposed to do, and I basically wanted God to say "GO TO DUBLIN!  It's not where you thought you'd go but it's where I want you!"  And I guess there was no reason I couldn't be as happy there as anywhere else.

Interviews went well, awesome things kept happening quickly and easily, but I was still real doubtful.  Drew was like "We've been praying for an opportunity to go abroad for a YEAR and telling God to put us where He wants us, and here it is!  This is the open door, He's handing it to us on a silver platter, and now we're questioning it."  Dangit.  

Fast forward to late March, and I'm sitting at my desk at work, when I get a call from Drew, who just spoke to the Dublin office.  They gave him an official offer, and he rapid-fire tells me what they're offering, the contract, the visa process, and everything else he can think of.  I hang up the phone and stare at my roll-a-dex in disbelief that this is really happening.  I go home and wait for Drew with a glass of wine and when he walks in we hug and kiss and dance around and jump up and down and drink Irish beer and listen to Irish music and laugh and talk and act a fool.  It was fun.  And hard to believe.

So...this is the blog that will now start talking about the new chapter of our lives, in Dublin.  It's so much more real now that we've told family and friends.  I'm dreading telling the job I love that I'm leaving but that will come later.  So..yeah!  There's our news!  Here we go.  

Unto You a Child Is Born

I haven't written in...months.  Years maybe.  But we have some big news we're announcing soon so I figured I'd get back on this thing, jazz it up, and start posting away.

Some of the biggest, best, happiest news thus far this year is the arrival of our NIECE!  She is precious and beautiful and perfect in every way, and Drew is FINALLY Uncle Drew, officially.  Annie is her name, and she is squishy and cute and after a month and a half, she now has the longest limbs you ever saw on a bebe.  

Here are some pics!

First pic, right out of the womb!  She's crying and cold!  Somebody help her!!

Sleeping Angel bebe. 

Uncle Drew.  Holding a baby. Help!  My ovaries!

Squishy faced Buddha bebe. Right after her first bath.

Proud Aunt Lauren, loving her life. And this bebe!

We're pretty smitten with her.  I'll post more pictures of her growth soon!  And I'll post other exciting things soon too so STAY TUNED.

Whatever Happened to Predictability....

...The milkman, the paperboy, the evening TV!

That's right, folks. That's the Full House theme song, and my lucky husband got to hear me sing it every day during our trip to SAN FRANCISCO!

We decided to take a little anniversary getaway to San Fran over Memorial Day weekend, and naturally I'm just now posting about it. We had such a wonderful time. We flew in on a Thursday, drove straight to Napa for dinner and a wine tour on Friday, then headed into the San Fran Bay until Monday night. We ate a lot of delicious food, and drank a lot of fab wines, and went to a lot of cool restaurants and bars, and went on some fun cliche tours, and it was incredible!

Here are some photo highlights of our trip:

Anxiously awaiting our flight at the airport!

Our fun view of the Golden Gate Bridge - driving over it on our way to NAPA

Bouchon! DELICIOUS Thomas Keller French restaurant in Yountville.

First Stop, Day One: Robert Mondavi Vineyards. We took a "Wine Tasting Basics" class so we could actually figure out what we were doing all day.

Beautiful Mondavi vineyard, and a naked lady statue welcoming us.

Next stop: Sterling Vineyards! You had to take a tram to the top of this gorgeous hill - incredible views!

Last stop: Kendall Jackson. Beautiful mansion with lush gardens surrounding it. I got lightheaded and almost passed out so we missed the tour but...it was amazing other than that!

More beautiful views....

Our first night back in SF, we ate at a cute local Italian place, Brindisi. Awesome seafood!

Our second day, we went on a food tour at the Ferry Marketplace Building. This is a food lover's paradise! It's comparable to the Chelsea Food Market in NYC. They have TONS of specialty food shops and vendors, and on Saturday mornings there is a huge Farmer's Market surrounding it. We got to sample a variety of things from inside and hear all about the local businesses. Drew is seen here sampling a Sesame Chocolate. Tasted weird but interesting.

Saturday afternoon, we took a ferry over to Alcatraz!! We had a self-guided tour and loved it.

Saturday night, we had dinner at Town Hall (and I forgot to take pictures, naturally), where I had some of the best friend chicken of my life. We also stopped by an AMAZING speak-easy called Bourbon and Branch, where you have to have a password to get in, and after whispering it to the doorman, you are ushered into a labryinth of dark rooms and halls to have the strongest drinks you've ever had.

Sunday morning, we took a Cable Car Tour and saw all of the cliche, touristy, awesome things in San Fran....including perfect views of the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

After the Cable Car Tour, we headed to Foreign Cinema for brunch. It's a beautiful, light, airy restaurant nestled in the Mission District, and they make their own homemade poptarts! You're damn right I got one.

Sunday night, we ventured over to North Beach and ate at a world famous pizza place, Tony's Napoletana. I'm not someone who generally buys into hype about "this is the best ______ ever!", but....this pizza was among the best pizza I've literally put in my mouth. Wanna see a picture of this delicious pie? Well you can't. Because I'm an idiot who forgot to take a picture. I was too consumed with getting it in my mouth as fast as possible.

Monday morning, we walked to the Ferry Marketplace Building one last time (we'd gone every day, mind you) and ate at a fun burger place called Gott's Roadside. We shared garlic pesto fries, while I got a blue cheese burger and Drew got a regular cheeseburger (pictured). Delish.

We also stopped by Tartine, a cute bakery with amazing bread, pastries, and meals, and got a Chocolate Hazelnut Tart. It took everything in me but I managed to save it to eat it on the flight home, to combat the depression I felt leaving.

Like I said, we truly had a WONDERFUL time! Can't wait till our next trip - which may or may not be to New York in the fall, because we may or may not have drunkenly bought plane tickets last night. Oops. More posts to come!

Updated

Well...it's been another 4 months since my last blog post and man do I suck at this blogging. Every article or website I've read about blogging encourages one to blog often or else you will lose interest and followers. Here's part of an article I read:

"Finally, once your blog is ready to go, remember to keep it current. That’s not to say you need to post every hour on the hour, or even every day, but at least post weekly; don’t half-commit to your project. With any luck, you will have readers and they will look forward to your posts, so don’t disappoint them. Too often, great blogs go south because they aren’t updated enough…or ever. Don’t put in all the effort only to decide two days later that it’s just not for you."

I don't actually have too many followers but I definitely don't now, judging by my once-every-six-months posts. Here's another part of the same article I found interesting:

"The first step to starting a successful blog is to decide what you want to write about. There are literally millions of bloggers already out in the blogosphere, so how are you going to differentiate yourself? It’s important to start by writing about something you love and have a substantial knowledge of. Whether it’s horticulture or hot dogs, entertainment or enterprising, fitness or finance – love it, live it, blog it. If you don’t have passion for something, neither will your readers, and if you can’t provide more insight than a quick Google search, why would anyone bother reading? Make it stand out. Show your personality and your passion, and most of all, show your expertise."

I never officially decided on a category. There's no specific "theme" to my blog, except a chronicle of our lives. I should probably add more cooking/baking, and maybe some more traveling, and some more restaurant reviewing, and home decor, but I haven't. I will though! As God as my witness!

Since my last blog post, I have....

• Quit training for a 10K or even a 5K. Maybe one day.
• Decided to move out of our apartment due to increased bullshit rent.
• Witnessed the marriage of one of my b-fris to a handsome Texas cowboy.
• Witnessed the engagement of another one of my b-fris to her cutie fiance.
• Joined Twitter. (WTF?)
• Gone to San Francisco for a lover's getaway with my boo.
• Found a fabulous new (small) apartment.
• Developed a new interest in home decor.
• Joined this awesome site called Pinterest where I can hone my home decor and posting skillz.
• Watched the Mavs enter the FINALS! (Currently watching Game 5 of the Finals right now, with my husband who curses incredibly loudly at the television every. single. time. the other team scores.)
• Completed my 1-Year Anniversary at the job that I currently have and love.
• Best of all: gotten my husband back from his job. Busy season is over and I am alone no more. Gracias a Dios.

I'd say that's a pretty busy Spring. I plan to blog more about each of these accomplishments...SOON. More next time.

New Year, New...Me.

I just noticed that the last time I blogged was October 26. That's outrageous. I started my blog as a scrapbook of sorts, not really to ever say anything of importance, but...it sucks. Scrap-booking is fun, but it's not as fun to read. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to blog more and write more REAL things, as I've said before. And so far I've done a shitty job.

I started this blog around 1 year ago (I believe my first post was about Valentine's Day 2010) and I really don't have much to show for it. Dangit! I need excitement to happen in my life. I told Drew we either need to move to a new city or buy a house or have a baby so my life will be worth blogging about. (Don't worry - we're not doing any of those things. Dangit!)

In an effort to be more real, I thought I'd share a few New Year's Resolutions (1.5 months late) - mostly so I can check myself and my progress. And putting it out there makes them real!

1. Run a 10K. So far this isn't going very well. I am almost running at 5K but I'm not entirely sure how well the 10K training will be/go. And I can't find one I want to do when I want to do it. Or maybe that's just an excuse. Leave me alone.

2. Lose 15 lbs. I'm about a third of the way there. We shall see.

3. Be more assertive. This means making more decisions for myself and doing things based on what "I" want or what WE want and not worrying about what others think of me/us. I am unfortunately driven by what people think and wanting to please everyone and I just can't do that anymore. So far I think this resolution is going swimmingly.

4. Read/work through The Artist's Way. This is a book my friend Molly sent me and it's supposed to help one be more creative and think more creatively and live the creative life you've always wanted to and never thought you could. I've gone through and worked on one chapter and I've slowed down. I need to speed it up! It's worth it! I shall be the creative person I was meant to be! God willing.

5. Start a book club. Me and my friends have been trying to start one for 2 YEARS now and it has yet to happen! This is our year, damnit.

6. Learn to make pasta and other different, non-conventional recipes that I haven't already mastered. This might not be a "resolution", more of something I should put on a to-do list, but...still. It's something I wanna do this year. So sue me.

I have a few others but I'm choosing not to reveal EVERYTHING about myself to my adoring public. But...it's out there now, and I shall keep myself/whoever reads this updated on my progress throughout the year. If I can remember.

I have other things I'll blog about later but I think this is a great start for now! Wahooo.

Paint n' Partyin

A few weeks ago, Kathleen, Lindsay, Devin and I decided to cash in our Groupon that we purchased last Spring and make our artistic dreams of being painters come true. We went to Painting with a Twist, which is like the Paint n' Party of our youth, but with wine and cheese this time! You can bring your own wine and food and learn how to paint the same generic painting as everyone else, while adding your own unique, drunk twist. And that we did.

When we originally found out what we were painting, a boozy redhead party girl entitled "Lucy on the Loose", I was a little irritated. Of ALL the selections, we have to do this one? What am I supposed to do with this? But as Lindsay pointed out...was this not the most appropriate/awesome painting this group of girls could have done? You bet it was!

The beginning of the end of Lucy. On the loose.

I'm concentrating very hard on blending my blue and white and painting the dress within the lines.

Halfway there....

All four of us with our finished paintings! As you can see, they are all the same, but DIFFERENT. Creativity people!! I'm jealous of Devin's blonde one. Sigh.

The finished product was a wild haired Lucy who was living the dream. As my friend Moll said, "Excuse me, bartender? I'll have what she's having!" But seriously.