go ahead….kiss the monkey, er gorilla!

this made me smile [friday]

the carousel is serious business….
clearly.

Hazel + Simon + a Monkey on a log
with uncle Henry in the background 

Yesterday was my 24 week check-up
and with it, the dreaded glucose test.

This harmless looking bright orange drink ranks right up there among the very worst parts of pregnancy for me!
Is almost as bad as labor.  er, almost.
(but at least at the end of labor a baby is placed in your arms…all I got after chugging this sugar-syrup was a migraine headache and a serious case of the shakes.)

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of this prenatal right of passage, the glucose test is where after fasting for a night - you are asked to slam a bottle of sugar-syrup and come to the Dr. to have your blood drawn at 60 minutes and 120 minutes post-drink to check for gestational diabetes.

I know it doesn’t sound all that bad (and it affects everyone differently)….
but for me, the concentrated glucose has an immediate and vile impact on my body.  Within an hour of downing the drink, H2 was going nuts- kicking like a ninja and I was leveled by a general feeling of lousiness.

An incredible reminder of just how toxic sugar can be.

But the appointment wasn’t all sticky drinks and headaches….
my check-up went well.  

I got to chat with my Dr. who I just adore (if any Chi-town ladies ever need an OB rec, shoot me an email) and hear baby’s heartbeat.  My bump is measuring just right and my weight-gain-to-date is trending about 7 lbs behind last pregnancy (but still well with-in healthy guidelines)

I am just a couple of weeks away from the third trimester.
and I really can’t believe how fast this is all moving!

Just a few more months until we add another nugget to our crew….
I CAN’T WAIT TO MEET HER!

Alexander Girard wooden dolls. Vitra | via: midcenturia

(that little turkey-guy on the left made me giggle)

yup, i am one of those people who votes for american idol.

20 or so times tonight alone for my favorite since the very beginning….
dreamboat, phil phillips!

Hair-Dryer Round-Up

Hair dryers just so happen to be a topic I am fairly passionate about - so when I received a question from a reader today asking for my recommendation, I figured I would share my answer with y’all.

A few years ago, I bit the bullet a traded in my $19 hair dryer from Walgreen’s for a fancy-fancy (read: professional) version.

Yes, it was about 10x the cost of my old dryer….
and Yes, it was one of the best investments I made all year!

Turns out, professional style hair dryers, get the job done in a fraction of the time (my drying time was literally cut in half with this dryer) and actually makes your hair look infinitely better than their cheaper counterparts…reducing both frizz and longer-term damage.  The difference is noticeable and for someone who spends a significant portion of her every morning under the dryer - it was completely worth the investment.

…so, which dryers are my favorite?
There are 2, I suppose 

Chi-Rocket Professional ($149 - 35% off)
Turbo Power - Twin Turbo 3200 ($159 - 20% off)

If you would have asked me last year, I would have pledged my loyalty to the Chi-Rocket Professional - the very best dryer I have ever used….

Quick, Powerful, Made my locks look silky smooth.
Unfortunately, I bought and broke 2 different Chi-Rocket dryers in as many years. Maybe it was just a fluke (twice) but for $150 - I had hoped they might hold up a little better (having said that, my mom has had hers for going on 3 years now with no issues whatsoever) .

The dryer itself was unmatched, but due to its longevity (or lack there of)….I can’t emphatically recommend it to you all.

But fear not, I have a solid alternative:  Turbo Power - Twin Turbo 3200.  Despite the fact the name sounds more like a type of airplane than a hairdryer, this bad boy gets the job done.

It is sturdy without being heavy, powerful without being inferno-hot and easily shows my mane who’s boss on a daily basis.

We all have our beauty splurges…
some of us invest in deep conditioning treatments,
others in boar bristle brushes….
But if you are in the market for an awesome new hair-dryer, you just might want to check out the above.

*Post not sponsored….Just some thoughts from a girl with a whole lot of hair.

pretty perfect

(Source: sartorial)

a weekend in may

3 trips to home depot.  3 more to ace hardware.
Hedge cutters, shower squeegee, and a 50-foot hose…among other things.
1 stop at costco and another to Crate & Barrel,
plus a pair of visits to the garden center for 2 hanging plants and a cart-full of herbs.

we are such new home-owners.

Saturday morning breakfast at the diner on the corner.
(we walked in and the servers said “there’s our girl hazel!” before bringing over crayons and a plastic cup with a straw.)

Early afternoon spent on our patio. 80 degrees in the sun.
Brother, Brother and sister joined us for beers outside….
Rather, beers for them - raspberry spritzer for me (god I miss alcohol)
A lazy few hours.
Hazel napped for what seemed like forever - so all 5 of us decided to poke our head in to wake her up.
Places to go!  Animals to see!
Off to the zoo….or more specifically, the carousel at the zoo
followed by an obligatory peek at a few of the beasts Z recognized from her picture books.

Uncle Dan hoisted Hazel up on his shoulders.
She felt taller than the giraffes, you could tell.

Late lunch @ Butcher & the Burger
and an Early bedtime - I was asleep long before the SNL monologue even began.

Sunday was for Capital purchases.
Deck furniture.  A new bed.  Fresh Squeezed lemonade.
Slowly but surely, we are getting there.

This was the first weekend, really, spent in our new home.
We loved every second of it.

I wasn’t ready for it to end.

bump or no bump…
i’d wear the business out of these three dresses

DVF // Halston Heritage //  3.1 Phillip Lim

(bonus points for the shopbop sale going on now!)

wide-eyed about everything

Hazel is a sponge…
You can almost see her learning.
It really is hard to believe how many new connections she makes over the course of a day.

This is a fun age for parenting.

Hazel + Basil

Simon and I have wanted an herb garden of our own forever.
In fact, it is the only thing we romanticized about a potential move to the suburbs…
We never dreamed we would have the space soil for an urban herb garden, but almost miraculously, our home came with a back patio and a tiny patch of land just begging to be filled with basil, mint, cilantro and oregano!

We couldn’t wait to plant our garden!
So Friday night after work, Simon Haze and I headed over to the Old Town Gardens and picked bunches of herbs (plus top soil and one of those little rake things to till up the dirt).  

Hazel shared a cart with the fragrant plants and kept burying her nose in the leaves.  

Closed eyes,
Deep sniifs
and a hint of a smile spread across her face.

These plants have not yet been transferred into the ground, and they are already bringing immense joy to my little family.

Reminder of the day:  Don’t forget to stop and smell the basil.

High-five your neighbor because the ShopBop sale kicked off this morning!

Now through wednesday get 20% off all those dresses, tanks and stacked platforms you have been eyeing for summer.

BRB - gotta go shop!