greatest hits

i have been a hot mess this week: especially paranoid, crying at the drop of a hat, so sleepy.  i even plucked a hair from my chin (yes, you heard me right.  a chin hair.  gross.  if that isn't a sign of a crappy day, i don't know what is). 

chris asked me if i was pregnant.  he thinks he's a comedian, obviously.  (and no, i am not).

forgive the massive photo dump in this post, but the first few hits from last week really deserve their own posts.  but if i did that, then there would be no greatest hits.  decisions, decisions.

1) have you heard the saying, "it takes a village to raise a child"?  i would like to add "and a good mall" to the end of that statement.  specifically northpark mall.  no offese to those malls that smell entirely like bath and body works and have a giant playground in the middle.  this one is just better.  it's artsy.  it's educational.  the lights and smells won't assault your senses.  it has wide open spaces in which you children can run. you don't have to spend a dime.

 there are fountains in which they can throw pennies and make wishes,

 and art which your child can imitate.

 warhols, y'all.  warhols.

 teaching moments pop up everywhere.  see?  primary and secondary colors.  and barneys.  not that i have ever set foot in there.  surely there is an economics lesson in barneys just waiting to be realized.

 baby turtles and ducks live there.  jealous.

 there is even an occasional celebrity sighting.  ben spotted his beloved taylor swift in the windows of h&m.

 then once you make it past the giant sculpture surrounded by cactii (good one, northpark, good one), you can then reward yourself your children with some mrs. field's cookies.

2) and since we are on the topic of things i love about dallas, let's just add the new perot museum of nature and science to the list.  it just opened in december and tickets have since been sold out.  ben was invited to a birthday party there, so we got a rare opportunity to skip the lines and have the museum at our fingertips.

 the parties take place in a "lab", where a museum employee teaches a lesson about a certain subject.  then after cake and ice cream, you get to roam around the museum.  for free.

 the lesson was about color-blending and rainbows.  the host's creative mother made these adorable favors,

 and rainbow cupcakes (which crosby devoured),

 ben raced a t-rex.  seriously.

 it was awesome.

3) marcy celebrated the fourth anniversary of her thirtieth birthday at the best dive bar around, complete with buckets of beer and karaoke.  jenn lost her karaoke virginity to the song, humpty dance.  

 marcy loves her birthday more than any four year old i have ever known, so every year is a giant party not-to-be-missed.  happy birthday, sweet friend.  it was a blast, as always.

4) we had a small window this week when my children were well, so we got to spend some time with our main girl, addy.  she's the best.

congratualtions!  you made it to the end of this post!  and that, my friend, is an accomplishment.

looking forward to meeting my new running group and going to see a movie with my husband.  i want to see this.

how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco