greatest hits

hi friends.

i have not been feeling greatest hits lately, but i most definitely need to unload some photos.  and since crosby is finally asleep, the couch is beckoning , and i am too lazy to move my photos over from the camera, you get my phone pics instead.  lucky ducks.

i am sorry, y'all.  laziness prevails every time.

i hope all is well with each of you.  please say hi!

here's a peek at my week (or two....sort of):

1) my big boy went to a rock-climbing birthday party.  his whole life, we has been too heavy to support all of his weight.  for example, it took him a while to learn to walk and he still can't manuever on monkey bars.  well, same goes for indoor rock climbing.  bless his heart.  he gets an A++ for effort. god, i love that giant boy.

2) this is how cousins bond.  you know, they play with phones just like we did when we were kids.

3) these particular cousins bond over lunch and sesame street.

4) i just get overwhelmed with a sense of satisfaction when i manage to squeeze all of those little hairs into a ponytail.  feels good.

5) chris' good friend, after chris told him we went to the record store, asked him if he was a hipster now.  do people not say record store anymore?  i mean, we don't listen to records but we were there to buy records for my dad and the word record is actually in the store's name, so that has to count for something, right?  here's a cute picture of my boys enjoying non-records.

6) this child.  he dressed himself for scooter riding, damnit.  he wasn't going to ruin his outfit just because plans changed.

7) you know those blogs that make parenting look easy and beautiful all the time?  this picture is the antithesis of ease and beauty.  on this particular day, crosby refused to move from this position during pick-up at ben's school.  i had my hands full with my niece, otherwise i would have been able to yank him up and threaten him with scary mommy-speak.  upon witnessing the tantrum of the century, a fellow school parent/kind stranger offered to get ben and bring him to me.  i don't know her, but i will love her forever.  just keeping it real up on the blog, y'all.

8) this angel-baby is obsessed with dogs.  she doesn't care whose.

9) we went on a date!  and marcy turned 35!  and she had a party!  a triple fun time!

10) we drank too many beers and took a lot of fuzzy phone pictures of ourselves.  it's the thing to do apparently.

looking forward to my big boys coming home from their camping trip.  

how are y'all?  what are you looking forward to?

have a wonderful week.

love,

coco

this and that

i know, i know.  i skipped greatest hits this week. i am sorry.  we are in the throes of potty-training and there are only so many pictures i can take of that before you stop following this blog.

i only work two days a week, and due to a school holiday and a virus/lack of childcare, i have missed both days and am now starting to twitch.  we have already started our first movie (8 am) and i anticipate at least two more in our near future.  if you think of any creative ways to keep me entertained today, please share!

here is the most random this and that full of things i covet on blogs and have saved for a rainy day.  have you found any internet treasures lately?  i would much rather read about them than disinfect the toilets.  mkay?  love y'all!  muah. (click on the links for more info.)

* i want to read this.  it's over 800 pages, mind you.  my kindle may explode.

via

*the inside out exhibit is taking place at the dallas contemporary.  you step into a giant photo booth fashioned like a camera and get a poster-sized print of your portrait.   my two biggest guys are going camping this weekend, so this may just be what's on the menu for me and little man.

via

*i think this painting is beautiful.  the colors.  oy.

via

(artist: clare elsaesser)

*as soon as we get both of our boys into (free!!!!!!!) public school, we plan on updating the crusty bathrooms in our house.  i want patterned tile.  i want it.  waaaaaaaaaant.

via

*photographer eric sahrmann created this strong baby campaign for the milwaukee health department.

i cannot handle these.  so ding-dang cute.

via

*i plan on making these care kits for the homeless with my boys asap.

via

*celebrity photobombs.  hahahaha!  click the link to see more.

via

*and speaking of celebrities, here are some posing with their former selves.  awesome.

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*mysterious artist duo dangerdust leaves motivational chalkboard drawing weekly at the colombus school of art and design.  how could you bring yourself to erase one?

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*and lastly, check out jordan matter's project, uncovered, which features 80 women going topless in nyc to face their feelings of shame and inadequacy.  would you dare?

via

that's all folks.   what did you think?

happy humpday.

love,

coco

my friend robin

i met my friend robin on a double date to the homecoming dance our freshman year of high school.  she had a mouth full of braces, i had enormous eyebrows, and we both wore velvet dresses.  we were trying desperately to act cool in front of our older dates, when unfortunately a meatball fell off my fork at dinner and landed in what little cleavage i had in 1993.  robin escorted me to the bathroom to help me retrieve the meatball and my dignity.  knowing her, she was probably giving me a pep talk and assuring me that no one witnessed the unfortunate event.  we didn't make a love connection with our dates that night, but we certainly did with each other.

{our first date}

 from that point on we spent endless hours together watching friends/my so-called life/reality bites, driving around listening to mix tapes, crying over boys.  we graduated, went to college, backpacked in europe together, drove up and down the california coast together, navigated our twenties together and stood up in each others weddings.

{bahahahaha!  look how tiny our sunglasses were.  nice, france. 2000}

 she is my soul sister, my biggest cheerleader and can still give a pep-talk like no other.

{santa barbara, california.  2003}

she also happens to be one of the most driven and ambitious people i have ever known.  your jaw would drop at her resume.  she is the founder of society bride, an on-line community of wedding vendors.  it's a place brides can go to find inspiration and ideas.  her blog is her business and it is fantastic.  she has recently started a new feature on her blog called nest-to-nest.  she will feature homes (in dallas and denver, for now) that will inspire newlyweds as they create a home together.

 

a few months ago, she asked if she could feature my home in her blog (i never tell her no).  a professional photographer came to our house and snapped away.  her name is amanda marie lackey.   i have never felt so fancy.

 

i am so flattered and so proud of the pictures and my home and my friend.

 

check out the rest of the pictures and the article here.  feel free to leave robin a little comment if you are so inclined.  oh, and you might want to add her blog to your list, it's good stuff.

 

love,

coco

 

p.s.  last week she feateured her parents' house on nest to nest.  robin's sense of style is evidently hereditary.

 

p.p.s. robin and her husband are also the brains behind mailagra.ms.  need invitations?

 

 

 

 

greatest hits

remember my resolution to chill out?  i really f'ed that one up this morning.

parenting is not for the faint of heart.  while parenthood can bring out the very best parts of you that you never even knew existed, it can also bring out some pretty ugly sides of you as well.  sometimes your kids get on your nerves, and then you say it outloud and then immediately regret thinking that and endlessly remind yourself that you are solely responsible for shaping those little people into who they are, warts and all.  did you create the parts in them that drive you crazy?  are they going to have a bad day/week/self-esteem because their mom snapped after enduring a morning of whining/crying/complaining/screaming/fighting/dragging feet?  those thoughts go round and round until your brain short-circuits and steam shoots out of your ears.  not even a work-out, a solo trip to target, or low-end theory has cured this funk i'm in.  hopefully, a hug and an apology will fix it all.  we shall see.

just keeping it real, folks.  tell me i'm not ruining my children.  K? thanks.

but i have enough perspctive to know that a bad morning does not equal a bad week.

here's a peek.

1) nana and papa got the boys a wii for christmas, and my boys have since been practicing their bowling/batting/sword-fighting skills.

 2) we went to the arbortetum to cure our cabin fever.

 look at my grumpy little chickens.

3) crosby started going to our beloved children's center twice a week.  after working on potty-training all break, he crapped his pants the first two days at his new school.  this boy.  he is so naughty, but so dang cute that i want to eat him up.  i've tried and he doesn't like it.

4) i have no pictures of birthday girl marcy, but i do have a picture of the fried chicken i ate.  priorties;)

y'all go to sissy's.  like now.

looking forward to marcy's birthday party on saturday!  how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

much, much love on this dreary day,

coco

2 years, 8 months and 4 days later

according to my scale this morning i am back to my pre-crosby weight.

i am as happy as this little girl.

source unknown

i gained thirty pounds with each pregnancy.  however, i started my pregnancy with crosby about 15 lbs. lighter than with ben due to (another) weight watchers stint.  a month after ben was born, i was back to my not-so-great pre-pregnancy weight.  my body was whack-a-doo and completely different, but the weight was off.  

after crosby was born, i lost half of the weight and got stuck at my not-so-great pre-ben weight.  seriously stuck.  i had developed a dumb thyroid condition.  so i started running.  nothing.

due to a combination of possible factors; running longer distances, yoga once-a-week, tweaking my thyroid meds, a very brief stint with advocare, my new green smoothie obsession, training sessions at the gym; my body has shifted in the past few months.

nothing major.  i am still wearing the same size pants for the most part (dumb).  i'm not particularly smaller (weight seems to have moved around instead) and i still have a ways to go.  and yes, i know, body image shouldn't depend on a number on the scale.  but sometimes it is about the number, right?  i'll take it.

i plan on celebrating tonight over a plate of fried chicken here (oh yes, i will.  take that, scale!) with my best friend marcy, the birthday girl!  happy birthday, sweet friend!

have you jumped over any hurdles lately?  big or small, i'd love to know.  and more importantly, did you celebrate over a plate of fried chicken?

love,

coco

happy new year

granted, temperatures were in the teens today, but it felt kind of nice to wake up and have a normal-ish morning, put on clothes that do not involve uggs or giant green sweatpants, drop the kids off at mom's, go to work and get some shit done.

i'm not so much looking forward to the inevitable hustle of getting the kids out of bed, dressed, fed, teeth brushed, lunches packed, rush rush rush, and back to school by eight tomorrow morning.  i will miss the marathon-movie-watching, the lazy breakfasts, the mid-afternoon naps, the sleeping in (who am i kidding?  my children don't sleep in.)

but i'm not gonna lie, i am ready for the routine.

are you?  or am i the only crazy one?

there is something exciting about starting a new year.  it's a fresh chance to do something you've been putting off.  or even if you never act on it throughout the year, a new year is a great excuse to bring those intentions to the forefront of your mind.

i know better than to make those "i want to lose twenty pounds" or "i want to exercise everyday" type-of-resolutions.  rather, i am going to stick with something general.  that way any success is just that...a success.

so i resolve to improve.  to be better.  same as last year, i want to be a better momma, wife, friend, daughter, sister, runner.

specifically:

*this will be the first training season with the dallas running club that i will not train for mileage i have never run before.  since i started running, i have been trying to increase my distance.  and to be quite honest, i have been in the weeds.  this year i am keeping my mileage familiar and focusing on doing a better job at what i can already do.   i am never going to be a very fast runner.  i have learned that much.  but i can choose not to get butt-hurt when i get lapped by a sixty year old.  i know what i am capapble of.  now time to improve.

 *i resolve to get rid of some debt.  we are getting by just fine, but we sure would be getting by a lot better if we weren't paying off some of these bills.  bills are dumb.

 *i resolve to chill out.  i am intense by nature and overly-sensitive to boot, so this is a challenge.  yoga, it is.

*i resolve to travel more.  chris and i are headed to nashville in march and then a family trip to colorado in august was booked today, so things are already looking up.  did i mention chris and i turn thirty-five (shhhhh....you have to say it in a whisper) AND celebrate our ten-year wedding anniversary this year?  this calls for some travel, fo sho.

for me, puzzle pieces started to fall into place in 2013 giving 2014 a pretty decent foundation.  wish me luck.

y'all sure have been quiet lately, sweet readers.  i hope all is well with you in this new year.  do you make resolutions?  do you take inventory?  i would love to know.

love,

coco

p.s. i am too tired to source these pictures.  i'll get back to that asap.  therefore, i will be improving this blog post.  see what i did there?

greatest hits: christmas, part II

well, i went to yoga this morning and am currently drinking a green smoothie.

i am trying to remedy my current tight waistband situation.

here's to drinking your lunch, sans booze (boring).  cheers!

here are a few good shots from the rest of our christmas celebrations.  traditions and rituals make my heart a-flutter (i'm an aggie for pete's sake). so to say i look forward to these little celebrations all year is an understatement.

1) my dad takes me and chels to neiman's every year to help him shop for a few special people.  we buy a bottle of perfume for every lady in the family and goodies for some decorators with whom we have good work partnerships.  we eat lunch and spend the afternoon picking out pretties.  it is so much fun and such a special time with dad.

he is santa, we are his elves.

 2) another favorite tradition is our annual girls christmas brunch at neiman's.  (i am now realizing this post makes us sounds like we spend a lot of time at neiman's.  notsomuch.  three times a year.  all at christmastime).  the ladies of my family dress up, go downtown and indulge in nm's famous holiday buffet. to die for, and therefore why i am drinking a green smoothie today.

 3) jenn hosts a book exchange for her kid friends.  it's super sweet and the kids run around and play/craft their hearts out so that the parents can have an real-life moment to converse and catch-up.  so fun.

what are your christmas traditions?  do these types of things make your heart flitter-flutter, too?  i'd love to know.

happy new year, friends!  

the aggies won, i had a hangover, and ate my share of black-eyed-peas for luck.

i hope this year exceeds all of your expectations!

love,

coco