Perfect Weekend

This weekend was perfect. Seriously - perfect. I don't think I've thought that about a weekend in a *very* long time! It was the perfect mix of home improvements, fun and relaxing. A recap:

Friday night was actually a whole lotta nothing. Was in bed by 10:00 p.m. But I was completely wiped out, so that was a good thing.

Saturday morning Henry and I walked to the Farmer's Market and bought delicious corn on the cob and squash. And of course we made the required stop at Starbucks. :-) Once we got home, my lovely husband was awake, so I turned little Henry over to him and started prepping a wall of our kitchen for painting. While little man napped I painted a coat in the kitchen and Z hung a shelf above our TV (has been on our to-do list for a while, so I was ecstatic!). I do plan to put cute things on the shelves to cover up the weird, mid-wall outlets.Once the shelf went up, Z grilled us some chicken and corn for lunch. Enjoyed our lunch on the back patio in the gorgeous weather. Post nap time, we snatched up H and away we went. Made a quick family trip to Lowe's and then headed to the Taste of Lincoln Ave. Henry road a pony! After the festival, we played at Oz Park for a while and then headed out to dinner at a local restaurant with a gorgeous back patio. Henry was a perfect gentleman all through dinner - smiling, laughing, eating his noodles.

Just as we were stepping in the door at home, we caught my friend R chatting to the answering machine. She has been crazy busy, so I was very happy to catch her call. By the time I finished my call, Z had Henry bathed and in bed! Then we finished our shelf installation and watched a super cute flick, Definitely, Maybe. Gave me a tiny crush on Ryan Reynolds. Can't believe I got Z to watch it with me, but it was so adorable!

Sunday was my morning "off", so I slept in. And, I cashed in a fabulous Mother's Day gift from 2007, a trip to Spa Space where I enjoyed a pineapple papaya body scrub, an Indian head rub, a full body massage and a facial. Perfect end to a perfect weekend!

I hope everyone reading had a weekend as perfect as mine!

JCrew...is that you?

JCrew...is that you? With your adorable argyle pattern and your lovely ruffled collar? Ummm...no, it's Gap's younger, cheaper sister - Old Navy! What?! Looks like JCrew to me so I think I'll give it a try. For $29.50, I think this is worth a try :-)

Me on TV?

I did an impulsive thing today. I applied for Design on a Dime! I've never really seen the show, but have seen many an HGTV design show. Apparently there is a Chicago HGTV office. There was a post on our local parenting website asking for Chicago area volunteers ASAP and I thought cool! Maybe I'm crazy, because I could hate it and it's not like it's a high end make-over. But, they foot the $1,000 bill and I get a room redone.

When we moved into this house, I put our entire suite of bedroom furniture into the guestroom downstairs because a) I wanted to start fresh both furniture & decor wise and b) we really wanted a queen sized bed. So, I put our current master bedroom up for sacrifice. It's painted a wimpy blue color. Every bit of furniture that is here is a hand-me down except an armoire that actually belongs to Henry's room and the West Elm desk I just bought. We have yet to splurge on that proper queen sized bed, so we have a full size set on one of those crap metal frames with wheels. So what's to lose? I'm hoping I could at least score a nice paint job out of the deal!

Would you put this on your kid?

Henry & I are gearing up to travel. Alone. And I'm already fearing it. Really the biggest challenge will be getting myself, Henry, a giant carseat and a suitcase from the parking garage to the airport. And getting everything packed in and loaded for baggage checking. Once we've dropped off the "stuff" we'll be in good shape. But how on earth do I do things that require both hands and not have him completely run away from me?!

Man, there is a TON of chat out "there" about child harnesses, leashes, etc. Lots of it is super negative, claiming using one of these is lazy parenting and that one should teach their child to behave properly (I did read one incident where a mother had leash on a 7 year old! Ok, that, in my opinion, is wrong!). But other parents are definitely supportive, reminding us all that you don't know what it's like to walk in another parent's shoes and in busy places sometimes being safe is the best choice.

So at nearly 18 months, with limited vocabulary and unlimited running skills, would it really be a bad thing to put a cute little monkey backpack on Henry so he can do his thing without me losing him? Hmmm...

Triple Play!

One of my new favorite reads, elements of style, filled out this fun meme, and left an open ended invite that I decided to take! (because work is so less appealing right now)

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1. What are the last 3 things you purchased? - Reef flip flops for Henry - a stainless steel spray bottle to keep granite counter top cleaner - blue vintage maxi dress 2. What are the last 3 songs you downloaded? - I'm afraid I can't even answer this. My husband is the music guru in this family. My iPod has been dead for months. However I did purchase the Old 97's Blame It On Gravity on CD. Ok, I lie, my husband bought it for me. But I love it! 3. Where were the last 3 places you visited? - Central IL for the floatilla - Hilton Head, SC - NYC 4. What are your 3 favorite movies? - Heathers (since I first saw it with my best friend at age 11) - Stand By Me - almost any 80's John Hughes flick 5. What are your 3 favorite possessions? - my new house - our photo albums, I try my best to keep cataloging our lives through the years - my Nikon D40 6. What 3 things can you not live without? - my family - Starbucks Chai Tea Lattes - the internet 7. What would be your 3 wishes? - a job I love, with hours like my current job - a non-travelling, job for my husband that he would love - my whole family, especially my mom & sister to live much closer 8. What are 3 things you have not done yet? - travel to Australia - gone zip-lining (always think this looks so cool) - learned to speak a foreign language

9. What are your 3 favorite dishes? - honey soy flank steak - Cheese Tortellini with Prosciutto, Peas & Mushrooms in an Alfredo Sauce from Basil Leaf Cafe - can a brownie ice cream sundae be considered a dish? 10. What 3 celebrities would you want to hang out with the most? - Rhett Miller - Drew Barrymore - Eleanor Roosevelt 11. Name 3 things that freak you out. - bugs that crunch when you kill them - used band aids - losing my parents 12. If you could describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be? - out-going - reserved (seems strange, but I can be both depending on the situation) - anal retentive 13. Name 3 unusual things you are good at. - bargain shopping - roller skating - I have a nearly photographic recall for numbers (could still tell you my phone # from many childhood addresses & we moved a lot!) 14. What are 3 things you are currently coveting? - building a new closet for DH (so he won't share mine!) - West Elm's storage bed - an attractive, reclining (DH's request) chair & a half for our family room 15. What 3 bloggers would you like tag? Purple Cat on a Bike DowdyDiva Shopaholic

An interesting lesson...

I have an account on HGTV's Rate My Space. I love decorating. My mother is a huge help too and I swear, she should have been an interior designer. Also, I signed up when we were leaving the condo, because I was a bit sad to leave my decor, I had just finished Henry's room and much of the rest I'd spent 5 years perfecting!
So, this photo of Henry's nursery is posted on Rate My Space:
People comment on how much the love the space, offer comments, suggestions, ask questions, etc. Cool right? Well, I learned my lesson about internet photos - these are now property of HGTV and anyone else can use them! I'm flattered! But it was also strange to google and find photos of my son's nursery!? Oh well - I feel famous ;-) People checking out my "work" below:

Design Happens
Herald Tribune
RubyRooms
Bringing BabyJ Home

What debauchery really looks like?

Certainly not the lovely stock photo of pontoon boats tied together in my previous post. THIS is what it really looks like:

We counted 23 boats at one point! The cooler in the photo? Panty Dropper juice (in case you can't read the lovely label). A scary concoction brewed up by the two husbands complete with the plastic figure who dances, farts and lifts her dress at the push of a button.

Of course I can't post all the frighteningly obnoxious photos of us - to protect the drunk innocent.

And yes, I'm addicted to the mosaic maker.

Where pontoon boats go to die

Where will we be spending the 4th you ask? Yes, the place where pontoon boats go to die, a.k.a., the lake behind my best friend's house. I'll leave out locale details so y'all won't crash the rockin' party, but basically, every year for the 4th we truck south to my best friends digs. This will be our 3rd year in attendance.

Why the abundance of sad pontoon boats you ask? Well, they live in this cute (though slightly WT - sorry C!) community on a lake. The lake does not allow gas powered motors, both for noise and pollution's sake. Makes sense right? What you'd never guess is that this has prompted people to purchase the largest pontoon boats they can find and operate them with trolling motors (little car battery op motors like fishing boats use for those of you missing that WT gene I was raised with).

So each year, just after lunch on the 4th, everyone tools out in their boats, ties them together and creates one giant party barge. And these people get really into it. There are kegs, a huge BBQ grill, annual t-shirts are printed and this year the Floatilla as it is called, will correspond with the band, yes you heard right, live band on my best friends doc/landing. Keep in mind all of this is happening outside of a village of 1500. No, not a town, you heard me right, a village.

Sweet right!?!?!?! The even sweeter part? Though I love him dearly, Henry will not be in attendance. My in-laws have graciously offered to come to our house and stay with him. I can pretty much guarantee, we will not behave ourselves this weekend!