Playing Catch Up! What We Did Over the Holidays

Helloooooooo blog friends. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! \(^-^)/
I know that I'm really late in saying that, but better late than never, right?
I hope that all of you are having really nice starts to the year, and that your holiday season was bright and happy.

I don't even know where to begin or how to catch up. I was lagging behind on posting mostly because we were just so busy with holiday prep and Chanukah and Christmas and New Year. Also though, I was surprised to find that I came down with the flu! It was right between Chanukah and Christmas. I couldn't believe it. I haven't had the flu or anything like it in over ten years! Actually, the most surprising thing was that even after my fever and aches subsided, I was completely worn out and weak for over a week! I've never had that feeling. The flu really does take it out of you. The good news is, I'm feeling better now. It took a while, but I'm back!

Here is just a bit of what we've been up to recently in pictures..........

I have Chanukah decorations and Christmas decorations. I grew up celebrating Christmas when I was a baby, then Chanukah until I was about five or six, and then Christmas. Don't ask. I don't even know. My parents are both half Jewish, half Catholic and Protestant, but have never been religious. So I think we were just trying it all out. Some people will feel that it is wrong that I decorate for a holiday that I don't religiously celebrate, but I still love Christmas time and the peacefulness and stillness and beautiful lights, so I put my decorations up. Mostly to celebrate  a time of joy and unity.

And I also make things fun and festive for Chanukah with dreidels and gelt and menorahs and other decorations.  But, in a nutshell, I'm bummed because I mostly forgot to take photos of my decorations this year! I'm so sad. I take pictures every year! I've been far removed from my regular rhythm and schedule these days. I'll blog about it soon. 

Willow enjoyed the warm glow of this small topiary/tree. My Mom gave me two matching topiaries from her front door years ago. I turned one into an indoor "holiday" tree with fun ornaments that Noah and I chose, and the other I decorated with simple bulbs and lights for sitting outdoors on our back deck!

And sleepy Josie, resting by the twinkling lights. :)

I just can't even believe that I forgot to take outdoor photos of our decorations this year. This is the only picture that I could find. Jon and I put A LOT of work into getting the fresh garland, wrapping lights and stringing bulbs and putting it all up. I wish I had remembered. And this year, the most fun part...... I found a vintage looking, plastic Santa 1/2-off at a garden shop, that we weighted down with bricks and perched on our front porch roof! :)

So, it looked like a 3-foot Santa was waving from our roof! Lots of people told me they liked him. The reason that I decorate all of the time, for the holidays and even for the different seasons, is because I just want to spread smiles and happy feelings. I know that my house is in a very visible place. More so than homes in a neighborhood. During rush hour, our street is quite busy, it is a cut-through loop around town, so we get a lot of traffic, and I just want to make commuters smile, especially if they've had a hard day. Also, the children at the nursery school right down the street seem to love the ever-changing decorations, and the church goers right across the street always tell me they enjoy them too. And people who regularly walk by. So....in my own, little, tiny way, this is how I do my part to spread some cheer. :)

Also, look how big Josie is! She was 16.5lbs. at the vet today!

I am stressed about what is the safest and best way to drive Josie in the car when I have to. I'd like to find a good set-up so I can take her with me to pick up Noah and on other small errands where she can accompany me. The only thing is, she becomes carsick and often....well.....throws up! Poor Josie. The vet said she might out grow it. Here is a car seat and harness combo that I tried. At first she liked it. After a few rides she was trying to climb out, and then she was carsick again. I still think it's a nice product though! It's the Solvit Tagalong Pet Booster Seat in size XL. It was very easy to set up and install. I paired the booster with their Deluxe Car Safety Harness that clips into the booster seat with two clips.

But, maybe the point is moot now because last week I got a new car! \(^-^)/

My lease is up on the Mini and it was time to try something new. I'm not sure how much I want to risk puppy vomit on the new seats at the moment. I don't think Josie wants to take the risk either. ;)

This is a convertible. Although I'm thoroughly enjoying our new, gorgeous snow, Noah and I are also super excited to one day, hopefully soon, put the top down!

Noah was off from school for over two weeks. A lot of hanging out with puppies went on.

Hanging out with tired from playing puppies.

Tired out from playing kids and puppies.

Apparently REALLY tired kids and puppies.

I feel like I've mentioned this before on the blog, but I found THIS free, cute crochet pattern for a Santa drink coaster. He was quick to make and lots of fun! I just made a loop for it, made two, and hung them in my front windows downstairs! :)

When I wasn't sick from the flu, Josie and I did a lot of walking. 

Like mother, like daughter.........

Here is Chanukah! Oh I am painfully guilty of not taking enough pictures of Chanukah this year. I'm really upset at myself for this. It's just that I started feeling sick around the third night and spent the rest of Chanukah on the couch or in bed. Noah loved when we lit the candles. He enjoyed singing, opening his gifts and playing with the dreidels and gelt. We even had a latke with applesauce night and blintzes too. Yum! Yum!

Last year we made cookies for Santa. Noah really wanted to do it again. I wish so much that I wasn't sick on this day. Instead of helping, I just watched and.....then laid on the couch`. It was still fun though.

And since it was Christmas Eve, I was able to finally give Noah his Christmas Eve box! This year it included some fleece, penguin footie pajamas, a stuffed animal, a Charlie Brown Christmas DVD, popcorn, movie candy and hot chocolate to make. It was great.

Oh, and on top of everything, my Mom's dog Lucy, who is Josie's best friend, she came over to play for an hour or so on this day. But, Lucy was scared to be away from her home, so she mostly just panted the whole time and ran around. We have dubbed Josie and Lucy and their friendship as = "Jucy."

Noah wanted to make Santa an ornament and letter, which I thought was sweet.

And here are his finished cookies! 

And everything, new penguin pajamas included, on Christmas Eve. Ready for Santa!

Here's after Santa came. Because we celebrate Chanukah, we only give Noah a few smallish gifts from Santa and one from us. Then, we go to my parents' house where Noah receives more Christmas gifts. Jon snuck downstairs late on Christmas Eve and ate the cookies that Noah left, drank the milk and left a letter in pencil on brown packaging paper. I was sure to wrap the "Santa" gifts in the same, nondescript packaging paper and then I added on scraps of ribbon and accessories that Noah has never seen and look magic! Like the silver stars below!

Noah gave Jon and I, what I think is the best gift ever! A poem that he wrote about our family. I 

 teared up when he read it to us.

This was him opening the box from our gift. It was a Hot Wheels Street Hawk. You guys, this toy is actually REALLY cool! It goes from being an RC car, to driving very fast and then......taking off into the sky! It becomes an airplane! Watch below:

After Christmas things were calmer. Between Christmas and New Years I just tried to get better. One evening we took a short walk. The lights were pretty and the weather was unbelievably mild!

When I was feeling good enough to really venture back into the world, we went for bunch at a delicious place called "Imperial." They make the best artisan, fresh, veggie tacos I have ever tasted. The menu is really unique. If you're in Detroit, you should check it out!

Oh my gosh, I just realized that I don't have pictures from New Years either! Oh geez. Well, for New Years we were invited to dinner with my parents and my 92 year old Grandmother. We went to a lovely restaurant called "The Stand."  I had a very refreshing beet salad and the best truffled risotto.

Then we took Josie to my parents' house to run with their dogs for a while, and after that I headed home. I fell asleep around 9:30, but luckily, Jon woke me up to see the ball drop. Then, somebody was setting off huge fireworks in the neighborhood down the hill, so it was pretty to watch those from our window. 

This week I spent a few days making some front window decorations for the month of January. I just went with a snowman theme, as I already have a door decoration that's a snowman holding a sign that says: "Let It Snow!" Which, I agree with. Let's have some snow now! Christmas was too green and warm outside. I need at least a LITTLE wintry weather before spring. Then I will appreciate spring more!

Here is Josie the other night. She is such a sweet girl. Over the holiday, one night after she awoke around 1:00am and 3:00am crying in her cage, we decided to just let her sleep on the end of Noah's bed and see if that helped. And magically.......now Josie almost always sleeps through the night AND she has stopped getting up at 5:45am!!!! HOORAY!!!! This is a HUGE difference. We are all getting more sleep now. :)

My Mom was suggesting for a while that it was time to take Josie to the groomer, just so she can start getting used to it. We give her baths at home often, she's very good about them. But, I don't know how to trim her hair. So, I agreed to take Josie to the groomer. My Mom set an appointment for Josie and her dogs Buddy and Lucy, so they could all go together and keep each other company. I was a really nervous for Josie. I worried she would be scared. I even nearly cried at the thought of leaving her. But of course, it was TOTALLY fine, and she had no problems and I was fine too. 

And, from the looks of it, with that smile on her face, she had a good time! 

Josie's hair is so soft now and the short length is good for the snow. They did a great job! It's just personal preference, but I love the longer, shaggy "Benji" look that she had before, but I'm sure we'll visit the "Pet Parlor" again sometime soon.

So, for Christmas my Mom gave me a great cookbook. It's a Cooking With Trader Joe's cookbook, the vegetarian version. Sometimes I have to go to three different grocery stores to find everything on my list, but my goal is to only have to shop one! Trader Joe's is my favorite, so this cookbook was super exciting to me.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying this cookbook and just wanted to share. So far I've made some Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella sandwiches which were easy and great. We also had the simplest but most flavorful pasta with sun dried tomatoes, olives and pesto! The picture below is the Spicy Szechuan Tofu. Think of it as veggie Ma Po Tofu. This was DELICIOUS and even Noah ate it! I served this dish with some white rice, a veggie stir--fry and some Asian inspired broccoli slaw.

Oh and........Chocolate Truffle Pie! This pie was sooooo good and super quick to make. The crust was made from Joe Joe's which are the Trader Joe's version of Oreos. The filling is just melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and coconut milk cream. It's amazing. 

Next I tried making an Eggplant Parmesan and a warm goat cheese salad. Everything was great! :)

Tonight will be a simple harvest grains veggie soup, some arugula with toasted pine nuts and Parmesan salad, and little grilled cheeses. We have a Trader Joe's truffled Brie to use up. Also, I've made the cookbook's blueberry and peach cobbler for desert!

THEN.....I go on a diet for the rest of my life. 

Speaking of. Ok, here is my exercise update. I'm really getting into something fun and wanted to tell you about it. Here is a very deceptive picture taken post-exercise the other night. My arm is much more fluffy than thist in real life, but look at that definition! Actually, it's just a line, but I pretend it's definition.

But any who, I have been exercising almost every single day since August. And before that, I was trying to at least exercise a little most days for the year prior. My theory is, if I just try to get at least 15-20 minutes a day of weight resistance/cardio exercise, plus a walk in, I'm good to go and I won't give up. I have 15 minutes to spare and time to walk. This amount is something that I can stick with.

I wrote earlier in the year about the pilates DVD that I purchased and have really enjoyed. It's called "Element: Pilates Weight Loss for Beginners." I like the 20 minutes "Cardio Pilates" workout. It's a lot of core work.  Usually these days though, I have been doing a mixture of POP Pilates videos which are FREE on YouTube! Have you seen them? I LOVE the creator and instructor Cassey Ho. She's the best! So sweet and super motivating. I just mix and match her different videos, and there are a ton of them. Many are just five minutes long, working a specific areas of the body. Other video are much longer and offer a full body workout. Here are the two that I did last night. I can DEFINITELY feel it in my abs and legs today.

STOP LAUGHING AT THE TITLE! LOL....

Sometimes I'll add in additional exercises of my choice or pair POP Pilates with my DVD. I just try to mix it up and keep things fun!

Ok, but here is the semi-frustrating/confusing part. Anybody know what's going on?

So, I have been exercising for a year and a half and trying not to eat once dinner is over. I don't weigh myself at home because honestly, I realized that I scrutinized that number on the scale too much. If I gained a pound, I felt defeated and would feel like giving up. I decided to go by how my clothes fit instead, what my energy and strength is like.

I went to the doctor's this week for my yearly physical. On the way out, they hand you a checkout sheet/receipt and I saw my weight. I can't believe that I've only lost about 10lbs. because I'm now fitting back into jeans that I bought quite a few years ago when I weighed 10lbs. lighter than I do now. 

So, how am I fitting into these jeans? I bought them when I lost 20lbs. on Weight Watchers. My only guess is, is that I lost some body fat, but gained muscle. Can that be right? That I just toned up and gained muscle? I suppose so...... I've been doing ab exercises and leg exercises almost every single day for five months. I've never felt this strong in my life, it's pretty cool!

So, I guess the number on the scale doesn't matter. I'm just glad that I can wear my old jeans again, and more so, that I can plank easily and feel strong and have fun while doing it! \(^-^)/

And that my friends is the scoop!

Love you lots. Back soon!

xoxoxoxoxoxo,

Lauren :)

That Time that the Universe Gave me Stomach Flu & When I Said "Don't Care!" and Wore Leggings & Had my Hair Done Etc...Etc....

Hi Silver Sisters, it's Lauren from September 2018!  I have the most amazing update for you - my husband Jon and I have launched our very own hair care line!  I have learned so much on my gray journey, and our new products incorporate all of my "tips and tricks" for making silver hair look terrific.  I am leaving all prior recommendations in place because I hope that they will continue to be helpful to people, and I will continue to use and enjoy many of the products that I have written about in the past. My opinions still stand on them. 

I hope that you will take a look at our new line By The Way, Your Hair Looks Fabulous!™  - it is a complete line of hair-care and styling products made especially for Silver Sisters AND for anyone who wants their hair care to be more natural and more affordable! 

- - 

Where do I even begin? Ok, Chanukah was cool. Wait, can Chanukah even be cool? I guess it can. We had fun and everyone survived Thanksgivikah 2013. It was fine. Now everyone can chill. 

And then, the letter that I ordered for Noah from Sealed by Santa arrived!  I ordered him a letter last year, and he TOTALLY BOUGHT IT! And he also did this year, so DON'T TELL HIM!!!!
Sealed by Santa is great, little company. For $8.95, I was able to make a customized letter for Noah using their templates. It was quick and easy, I was able to have the letter mention his accomplishments this year, his friends, a toy or two that he's been hoping for. It's worth every penny when you get to see his eyes light up when reading the letter.  It also comes with a beautiful envelope, a small packet of reindeer food, and this year you can also receive a free phone message from Santa.

And "In honor of Santa" as my mother put it, she made Noah a beard out of whipped cream. Then it rolled off his face and onto the floor. Then the dog ate it.

BTW!- Hey, do you like LUSH products too? I haven't been in for ages, but went the other day for a Bubble Bar after seeing someone talk about the new holiday bubble bars and bath melts on Youtube. (Ahhh marketing, I am soooooo susceptible to yoooooou!)

In my younger years, when I spent my extra pocket money on things like sushi and clothing and beauty products, I'd also go to Lush! At first, I could only visit Lush when we went to Toronto, but now they have a store where I live too! I used to pour over their great catalogue. Picking out just the right Bath Bomb or Bubble Bar. The only thing is, please, Lush, stop using parabens! They're a company that prides themselves on being fresh and handmade, and they are! I'd just buy more if they took out the parabens from the products that have them. Still fabulous fabulous stuff! I choose this Bubble Bar called "Candy Mountain." Mountains of thick, rich vanilla scented bubbles with some snowflake shimmer to make your water sparkle. Noah chose a Bath Bomb called "Dragons Egg." It was so cool! It turns your bath all sorts of colors, one at a time, and this bomb then shot out gold glitter! Really!
I can't wait to use my bubble bar, I"ll let you know how it is.

Ok my gray-haired readers, this is for you! (First though, thank you so much for all of your wonderful, heart-felt comments on my original going gray posts and on Facebook. You guys, you're too much! So nice and encouraging. I just want you to know that YOUR support and inspiring words help me too! It's easy to see that gray hair growing in and want to grab a box of hair dye. (Which is ok!) But for me, a person who needs to lay off the dye, you've REALLY helped to give me the confidence and positivity to KEEP GOING!!! WOO HOO!!! I hope I can join hands and help you too! :)
So here is my #1 favorite nice gray hair trick...... HAIR GLAZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know that I've talked about glazes before, but they're just so effective and great, I needed to mention them again. Initially it was difficult for me to actually get myself to the salon and agree to have something made with chemicals put on my head. I'm trying to remember though, everything in moderation. It's just a personal preference of mine, I do my best to avoid beauty products with certain ingredients like parabens, and really really try to only buy natural or mostly natural shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, make up etc..... (If you're ever interested in a list of natural products that I recommend, just ask!)

Anyway, to make a long story short, I work day to day to be as natural as possible, and I feel like it's OK when every 3-4 months I go in for a glaze when my hair needs some help.
You know what? I don't even know why I am mentioning this, other than the fact that I think I secretly feel guilty about the glaze. I just need to learn to just LET IT GO HUH!?  :)

Alrighty! So here on the left you have my 8:00am, exhausted post- morning school rush hair that is the BEFORE.  On the right is my AFTER! Not only does a trip to the salon do wonders for your hair, apparently it wakes you up and makes you feel happy too! (Btw - go see my most WONDERFUL , pro-gray stylist EVER...Lydia @ New You Salon!)   I tried to take similar pictures to show you a difference. I know the color doesn't look that different, but I promise, I had yellowing from the past three months of using hair products and just every day pollution. Now though, my hair is much less brassy and more cool toned. I love it! Also, much of the frizz is gone and my hair feels so soft! It's miraculous I tell ya!

Even more miraculous, the hair glaze magically turns your dorky selfies into sultry selfies. HOW does it do that!? (Wait, I've never been sultry before. I don't know how I feel about this.)

Ok, but in a nutshell, having your hair glazed is highly recommended by me. It makes a lot of difference.

Let me get to the stomach flu part. (I promise, it won't be gross.)  I can't believe though, that I am talking about this sort of thing in public, but internet, for the very first time in my life, I had some sort of "stomach flu."  Which is really strange because I swear, most years I VERY thankfully survive fall and winter unscathed by stomach bugs or flu. And, the years when I do get sick,  it's just a cold that makes me cough all night. This year though, this has been quite the year for me, two ailments in six months.  The first was the summer coldmageddon. The cold that Noah and I shared that lasted over a week, gave him a rash and made my eyes all red. Ugh! And now, over this past weekend, I come down with my very first stomach bug! HOW did that happen!?

If I had to guess, if timing it correctly from exposure to symptoms, it was either caught while at the pediatrician's for Noah's nine year check-up last week, or at the bajillion of stores while I ran a gajillion holiday errands and touched every single shopping cart, shopping basket, door handle, escalator, credit card pad, self-check out, ATM and gas pump in Metro Detroit. Mind you, I do WASH MY HANDS every time I get home, and I do a little squirt-squirty here and there with the anti-bac while out, but now I'm realizing maybe that isn't enough.

First I felt a little achy. Then I had the chills and a very mild fever. Then all hell broke lose. I'm thinking something in the Norwalk family of viruses. The good thing is, after only a day and a half I started feeling much better. And now, I'm slowly trying to get back up to speed with food and energy. I really didn't eat much for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The hard thing is, when you're sick AND you have HEALTH ANXIETY, it is the worst thing ever!!!! Your body is going crazy and you feel awful, but so is your over-active-omg-I-am-doomed imagination, so your brain feels terrible too!

I really know that I shouldn't, but this ONE TIME, I googled all the symptoms of stomach flu and gastritis and of course was freaking out....what if it's a parasite or a liver problem or a blah-blah-blah....and went over all of the "complications" in my head and the potential tests and how terrible it would be to wait for test results. And I've been hyper-vigilant for any signs of dehydration, low-blood pressure, electrolyte imbalances! etc...etc...etc......

And here's what gets me every time. W.W.N.P.D? 

 WHAT WOULD NORMAL PERSON DO?

Because I am a health worrier, I tend to FREAK OUT over things that might not make a non-worrier....well, worry.  And when I am sick, I start to worry...."should I get to a doctor? Do I need to go, or do I not need to go?" Even though I have a GP, (it's nothing personal but) I still hate going in when I'm sick unless I have to. Only because it just makes me panic more, and THANKFULLY, knock on wood, every time I have rushed in, it ends up being NOTHING. Like that time I had emergency strep throat a piece of food on my tonsil.

It's this constant mental battle with me.....go see a doctor and possibly look dumb or worse, freak out and make everything worse or have tests and panic. OR, don't see a doctor and possibly die. 

OR.... I could just ask WWNPD?

So on Sunday morning, after a night of mild-moderate symptoms, I spring out of bed like a lunatic at 6:00am to shower and get myself to urgent care when they opened at 9:00.  Which wasn't difficult because I stayed up all night in agony, not because of the stomach flu, but because with every tummy gurgle, I feared the worst. And, I feared that I would get the cute male doctor at the walk-in clinic and have to admit to him that I had the stomach flu!  And, just in general, I am scared of going to the doctor.

But, also, as I was getting ready, I was crying because I didn't want to run to the doctor's, but I also wanted to live. And that's when I read on the internet that only 10% of adults with stomach flu seek medical advice and I was like....Ah HA!  WWNPD!  A normal person would NOT run to urgent care after 18 hours of not-so-horrible symptoms. Alright!

So, in the end, I wasn't standing at the door to the clinic at 8:55am, hands pressed to the glass chanting "open-open-open". So that's good. The only problem now is that  I'm having an inner dialogue about when to go in if I never feel fully back to normal from this bug. I'm a little nervous, but since we've just his the 72 hour mark since the onset of symptoms and I've been feeling 80% better for the past two days, I'd say (knock on wood) I might be on the right track. 

What the!? I wrote so much about stomach flu!!!! I didn't even mean to write that much. It must mean that I love talking about stomach flu!!!!?????? WHY????

Ok, here's the "mystical" part of this whole thing: I think......I think the universe gave me stomach flu. No, I'm serious. Up until the time that  I began to feel sick, I was going out-of-control over holiday prep. Like crazy. It started in November, freaking out over all of the gifts I had to buy for numerous birthdays and holidays. And it was the decorations that need to go up and also be handmade. It was the presents that I was making and the holiday plans and parties and people coming into town and the fact that I was going out of town for Thanksgiving and my brother and (speed up my voice here) MMmmmmmah....Target.....mmmmmmhhh.....giftwrap..........bank.....school.....pack....order...ship........groceries.....clean house....make present......hang garland....... (BOOM!!!!!) Now picture some smoke wafting up and that is me hitting a wall of exhaustion and getting stomach flu.

Stomach flu stopped the holiday insanity. It totally brought me back in touch with reality. Forget the lists! Forget the errands! Forget the shopping that I didn't feel like doing anyway! I was forced to totally and utter lose my stride. WHAT A GIFT. WHAT A  GIFT!

On Sunday evening I turned to Jon with surprise and said: "Oh my god, I haven't stressed about the holidays since Friday!" And he said sympathetically : "Yeah, you were kind of on a tear." Which is true. Stomach flu was magical, it got me to do something that nothing else and nobody else could: SLOW DOWN!

So anyway, yeah, I think the universe sent me stomach flu for a reason. It was an interesting experience.

Here's Willow TRYING to tell me last week that I seriously don't need to hand stamp anymore dumb labels this year. She thinks I can just let it go.

Oh! Ok, here is something non-gastritis related! WATCH OUT WORLD, LAUREN S. WORE LEGGINGS! I know the photo below (taken just before the leggings incident.) does not show leggings, but it does show the point where I had an epiphany about them. I was taking a picture of my outfit. I don't like this outfit as much as some of the others that I have, but I felt like I needed to start dressing in more mature dark colors.  For.some.reason.... I don't know. My Dad, he only wears black. It's supposed to be more sophisticated. I was thinking I needed to look more more grown up. I digress.
So I take this picture and then I needed to get ready to go out walking.

It's cold, really cold, and now I've invented this awesome new outdoor fitness walk, where I traverse up and down this moderately high ridge a bunch of times to get my blood pumping, and I walk on a wall at the park and up some hills. It's all great, but you need to be dressed right! Wearing yoga pants is ok, but they drag on the ground, and now I walk on gravel and grass and it's snowy! I don't want my pants to touch the ground. If only I could bring myself to wear leggings.

Leggins. Something that I've always wanted to wear, but always felt that I couldn't. Until now......
Right here in front of the mirror, I just lost my mind and said out loud: "I DON'T CARE!"
And then I put on leggings and then I went out to exercise and it was awesome.
Ok, granted, I WAS wearing a coat that went to my knees, but let.me.tell.you. Those leggings were so comfortable, and perfect for what I was doing and it was liberating!!!!
I've been working hard, day in and day out for the past four and a half month to become more fit. I might not be tall and thin, but I feel strong and hey! That's good enough for ME! :)

Just like deciding that I didn't care if some people disliked my gray hair, I decided that when done tastefully, I'm just going to wear leggings when I want to, gosh darn it!, because I really don't care if I'm not a perfect waif of a girl. I DON'T CARE! 

I was talking with my friend Heather the other day. She's an amazing woman who has always cheered me on and encouraged me to know that I CAN have a voice, that I can make decisions without feeling so guilty all the time. I told Heather that recently I've decided to go head-on into life and do what's right for me with little apology. (Well, unless I'm rude or do something wrong, then of course I'll apologize.) But when it comes to things like gray hair and leggings, and politely declining invitations to out of town weddings or volunteer jobs that I'm not wanting to undertake - I'm there!
When I got off the phone with Heather, I wondered where this big inner change is coming from, and the only thing I can think of is the fact that I'm eeeeking closer to 40 than 30 these days. And then it dawned on me what it's called! I'm finally becoming a WOMAN WOMAN! 

I guess I've been a woman, you know, like for a while now, but now I think I'm becoming a woman woman, which is nice. I may not be wise yet, but at least now I can wear leggings when I need to.

Oh! Which reminds me about one thing....guess what I bought today? My first pair of "skinny jeans!" This is totally along the same lines as "I can't wear leggings."  I also thought that I couldn't wear stupid skinny jeans. I'm just tired of trying to tuck bootleg jeans into my snow boots when I go out to the shops or school. I hate my pant cuffs getting wet. It's a top pet peeve of mine! 

I decided to just go out and at least try a pair of these things, and guess what!? I couldn't believe it! I actually liked them!!!!

Eneter: the most comfortable jeans in the world! Jag Jeans. The pull-on.....erm......type. Yeah.

I wrote about them before. You need to trust me and you need to stop laughing. The sales woman at Nordstrom was like: "Oh,  you mean the maternity jeans that aren't maternity! They're almost all sold out!"  YES PLEASE! I'm telling you, these are NOT pajama jeans. They're thick and warm and well made. They hold their shape and they're as comfortable as leggings! I found mine in the petite department at Nordstrom, they also come in regular length. You can find them many other places including online. I highly recommend the "Peri by Jag Jeans"! I've heard that many people love them and there's a reason!

Moving on! I started making this blue crocheted shell stitch infinity scarf while sitting and waiting for Noah after school. Why you need to know this, I don't know!

Also, we have seen a cat in our backyard several times now, and we don't know if he or she is a stray or not. But, we started to worry that he was stray, and that he might be cold! Or hungry! Or lonely!
So, Jon and Noah built him a feral cat shelter. It's all insulated and great. Isn't it neat!? So far, the cat has eaten some of the food we've left, but won't try out the shelter. He's not very scrawny, so hopefully hopefully he belongs to somebody and is just out on walks.

Jon has been very nice to me while I've been recovery from the stomach flu. One of the things he said was that I don't need to shouldn't be cooking food. You know, so I don't infect the whole family. Tonight he brought home Chinese food. Ahhhh....rice. A perfect stomach flu food.
At the end of dinner, I went to take a fortune cookie and Jon stopped me. He said: "Are you sure you want to take one of those? This is the place with real fortunes." This is the fortune that I got:

"A man's best possession is a sympathetic wife."

Jon read it and said: "Wow! Where do I get one!?" 

Buh-duh-bum.....

 I believed that these fortunes were all real until I read Noah's:

"You will do well to expand your business."

K. Have a great week! Watch out for those stomach bugs!

xoxoxoxoxo,

Lauren 

Those Crazy People who Start the Holidays on November 1st.

This is Hector (but you already know that).  He's always in a state of just being. He is enlightened. We should change Hector's name to "I Am," he's just that zen. I think I could even venture to say that Hector is in a perpetual state of happiness. When we make the bed in the morning, Hector hears the rustle of the sheets and the duvet and comes running. It brings him great joy to jump into the middle of the bed, and spontaneously freak out in only a way that a cat can spon....taneously....freak out.  "Rwaaaaar! I am a CAT! And now I am going to hold your sheets hostage. BECAUSE!"

And even though we are not scared of Hector (He's more meow than bite. Actually, there's no bite), we usually just leave him there and move on to something else, because if a duvet can bring someone this much happiness and excitement , then more power to them. 

Last weekend my Noah turned nine. Which was exciting for everyone. In the weeks leading up to the big day I asked Noah: "Noah, what would you like to do for your birthday? Would you like a party?" And Noah turned to me like I was crazy and said: "Mom, the LAST thing I want to do on my birthday is have a party."
So, for the fifth year in a row, we didn't have a party, just a small PAR-TAY at home, at 6:00am.
Noah woke up at 4:00am and 5:00am on his birthday, but I told him, that I was sorry, 6:00am was my limit.

I think he had a really good birthday. My father happened to be flying into Detroit on his way home from working in California. So he came in the morning (we were up!) to surprise Noah and take us out for breakfast. The day also included a trip to Target, and a very shameful  amount of time playing Minecraft. And for dinner, it was Noah's choice. Anywhere, anywhere he wanted. A steakhouse, some sushi, a nice restaurant that we'd normally pass up. He chose............ Panera.  Broccoli cheddar soup.
Props Panera. All of those years (that are still sort of going on) where he would only eat five things, one texture, one damn color, not eating, we could always count on the one thing: Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  Thank you Panera, for helping to keep my child alive.

It's beginning to look a lot like Thankschanukahmiss! Everywhere you go. Including the god-forsaken mall. I dislike malls.  It's just so loud and crowded and massive in there,  it's usually not my cup of tea.  But, I had to go yesterday. Do you mall shop like me? Before leaving home I pinpoint the hopefully store, not storeS that I need to visit. Locate them on the online map, find the closest door, choose where I'm going to park and then 3....2.....1.....GO!

And also, hey! Look! My mall has palm trees in Michigan! And a Santa's sleight with reindeer.

And some kind of North Pole castle with paaaaaalm trees out front. Yes, makes total sense.

Do you know those annoying people who just go CRAZY over "the Christmas spirit" the minute Thanksgiving ends? They're  totally  obsessive,  listening non-stop to Christmas music as soon as the local oldies station switches over to holiday songs (which for us, I kind you not, was November 1st). I'm telling you, they're nuts! Once the pumpkins are gone, BOOM! It's all candy cane and sugar cookie fragrance spray.  It's hours spent in the special holiday section at Target, at LEAST two times a week. Yeah, they're completely overboard. My name is Lauren and I'm one of them...........

I really can't explain exactly why I love the holidays so much, especially being that I grew up without religion, and I am an agnostic. I think it has something to do with the fact that for as long as I can remember, Christmas Eve in particular, was just the most beautiful, still, peaceful night of the year. It was magical, it was sacred, it was the day that I looked forward to the most the entire year. Christmas held and still holds an unexplainable feeling of hope and cheer. Maybe it's because so many people walk around happier or more contemplative, or that they speak of peace. And beyond this, I can't articulate why it is so important to me. My feelings don't come from religion or even from family memories so much, it's just some kind of inescapable time of serenity and wonder.

Maybe this is a good example of the magic. We took Noah to Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village last year. The highlight of the whole evening is the "REAL"  Santa perched on top of one on the historic houses (his REAL reindeer and sleigh are on the lawn!). A parent has to stealthily approach a near by actress dressed as a caroler, and whisper their child's name into her ear. Then, using a tiny, hidden mic, she relays the name all the way up to Santa.

I took this short clip when we approached the house. You might be able to tell that my Mom and I got a liiiiitle TOO excited (actually, we were kind of flipping out for some reason).  But what you can't see from this dark, grainy video is the HUGE smile and look of shock on Noah's face. A year later he STILL talks about Santa knowing his name. It made him feel so happy and loved and special. It was great. And that might be a  good way to explain why Christmas time means so much to me. 

Or maybe you can understand by hearing the giddy insanity in my voice as I narrate the entire hour-long, 3-mile-an-hour drive through the Wayne County Lightfest. I was crazed.

In our house, Jon, Noah and I celebrate Chanukah. Growing up though, and still now, my family celebrates Christmas, but in a pretty non-religious way. For the sake of simplicity, (not because I was asked by Jon) when I was married nearly ten years ago, I thought I could volunteer to give up having my own Christmas tree or jolly Christmas decorations. So I started doing up Chanukah in a big way instead, making my own decorations in shiny silver and blue. But really, now I see in retrospect that I was only trying to fill a void. With each year, my collection of Chanukah decorations grew, and right along with it, a sad feeling that something was missing.... 

And slowly the homemade Chanukah decorations changed into silver and blue Christmas Chanukah bulbs attached to garland long Chanukah bushes. And then one year I added twinkly, clear lights, and another year a "winter" screen  that featured fake snow and ornaments glass sculptures that look like tiny presents. And then two years ago, when my stepfather innocently offered me two old, 4' artificial Christmas tree topiaries to help decorate the outside of the new house, I totally went over the edge. A break with holiday decoration reality.

The sadness, the feeling of missing something, the years of longing for a tree and lights and candy canes, it came exploding out. I could. not. help. myselllllllffffffffff........

Jon has been very ok about all of this. Actually, he's truly "meh" and "whatever."  I'm actually the one who organizes and facilitates Chanukah around here. In fact, I'm the one every year who tries to drag us to  Chabad's city-wide outdoor, giant menorah lighting and free donuts ceremony. (Hey, it's a giant menorah two blocks from our house and the FREE donuts! ) And it's Jon who's apprehensive about going.

Also, this year, I swear,  I'd get better get footage of the menorah mobile driving past our house. (This photo from the Toledo Blade is an example of a pretty awesome menorah mobile.)

I'm not being facetious at all. I'm being totally serious, I absolutely LOVE our local menorah mobiles. They bump music through loud speakers, the most incredible mix of Chanukah songs and hip hop. AND, they drive RIGHT BY OUR HOUSE as they circle downtown a few times. For the past two years Noah and I stand in the front window, jumping up and down and screaming. It is so amazing. Jon, he just gets a headache.

I feel badly though because just as I've had a Christmas tree my whole life, Jon's never had one.  I feel like it should be give and take. I've tried to balance the Christmas and Chanukah.

For example, I feel as though this "Winter Fantasy" theme on top of our china hutch in the kitchen is quite neutral. It's arctic, it's snow, and  that's non-denominational, right?

And this area in our family room. It's all silver and blue Chanukah colors, except for a little, single stocking. Balance.  Lots of Chanukah presents and then something that Jon named "Christmas Fallover Bear."

A little house - neutral.  A teeny, tiny fake Christmas tree - almost neutral.

More mostly Chanukah....Sort of.

But then! THREE menorahs! And a thousand dreidels and tons of gelt! (Ignore the um, silver and blue jingle bells. I have no idea.) Just so you know, there's even ANOTHER menorah on the other side of the room. Chanukah has NOT left the building!

See, the winter fantasy scene IS pretty Chanukah, is it not?

Totally neutral. Silver fuzzy stuff and candy colored glass art.

Teeny tiny, fake Christmas tree, but then...........

............Two Jewish people skiing. Chanukah.

More candy colored glass sculptures.

This week we had two little friends come over after school. I had to come up with some kind of cool snack, and when I saw Trader Joe's Chocolate & Peppermint cake mix, I couldn't possible pass up such a cool Chanukah cake. It was huge hit! Delicious and super easy to make. Highly recommend. Pick  your own box up at Trader Joe's while supplies last!

I'm kind of sad that I don't crochet as much as I used to.  I need to make more time for it. It's really strange, but over the past year or so, I've lost the ability to relax. I really don't slow down and crochet or watch TV or a movie or read much these days. The closest thing that I come to that is working on the computer at night.  I don't know why I've changed, but I feel like it has something to do with becoming too obsessed with making "to do" lists and with the challenge of getting everything done ahead of time. I also challenge myself to be efficient and on the ball with everything that needs to get done. I'm starting to think none of this is healthy when it means forgetting how to relax. Being a robot is not healthy. Maybe that'll be my New Year's resolution! Learn to relax again. I hope that mean more crochet!

What sparked these thoughts is that I wanted to make a small, quick gift for someone. He's a cardiologist, so I found a free pattern for this heart garland (by the way, if you're wondering, I'm fine, everybody is healthy. Nothing is wrong at all).  Each heart took just two minutes to make and the chain is even faster. In the end though, I'm embarrassed to admit, I liked it so much that I kept it for myself. I sent the cardiologist chocolates though. Chocolate loving cardiologist = most awesome cardiologist in the world! :)

And that my friends is the news from Lake How Bourgeoisbegone, where all the women are strong, all the men good looking, and all the children are above average.

Until next time!

xoxoxoxo,

Lauren