a weekend in pictures

guilty pleasure mix - Volume I

Everyone has their favorite songs that they're slightly embarrassed about. I have a ton of them. Since C loves good music. This child appreciates the classics with a bit of my "hipster" tunes thrown in there. He gets fussy when pop punk comes on. He doesn't understand guilty pleasure right now. He'll get there (I hope) hehe! Below are the songs I put on my first guilty pleasure mix. Enjoy (or don't!) :)

1. all the things she said - tatu
(Could've cared less for this one when it first came out. I had to borrow an ex's car and this song came on one of his mixes. That car trip was when I discovered how great of a sing-a-long this was.)

2. boys - britney spears
(I love Britney and it's not because she made me feel differently about my school uniform in high school. I may or may not have a dance to this song. Completely normal.. i know!)

3. good girls gone bad - cobra starship
(So freggin horrible but it's so damn catchy. Perfect to "perk" up a road trip.)

4. dirty little secret - all american rejects
(After the tour they were on in '03, It took me a long time to be able to listen to this song again.)

5. milkshake - kelis
(A bunch of my friends and I hit up several tour dates for a band we knew. It was nicknamed the "milkshake" tour. Why? This song just came out. It was so damn catchy and I was dubbed "Milkshake" after. A laughter ensues whenever this song comes on)

6. since you've been gone - kelly clarkson
(it's like that damn gotye song. you just have to sing-a-along!)

7. my friends over you - new found glory
(oh, nfg. You weren't my fave as a teen but you were a lot of fun)

8. like it's her birthday - good charlotte
(good charlotte didn't disappoint with this horrible guilty pleasure when it came out a few years ago.)

9. lala - ashlee simpson
(after forcing myself to read that stupid fifty shades of grey book (more on that later), this song now makes me think of that damn book. the best is being caught singing and dancing to this song singing into the broom... not really but the laughter that ensues is always priceless)

10. happy holidays, you bastard - blink 182
(the 12 year old boy in me still cracks up over this crude yet funny song)

11. drawing board - mest
(i'm fully aware the lead singer of this band would later stab someone but before then was this classic. it's giving me flashbacks to blue leopard print pants and colorful streaked hair)

12. shake it - metrostation
(booty shaking is a must when the chorus of "shake shake shake shake")

13. helena - my chemical romance
(i was "helena" aka the dead ballerina from this video in '06. it was a hit... well, only if you saw the video)

14. lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off - panic at the disco
(i'd serenade anyone and everyone this song in '05. i'm sure some sweet "tipsy" dance moves followed.)

15. misery business - paramore
(yeah, this is my rockband jam. one of my best friend's has the lead singer's moves down to this song or at least she did 5 years ago haha)

16. oh sheila - prince & sheila e
(i can't tell you how many of my late night dance parties started off with this song. okay well maybe it was girltalk that started off the dance parties but this was def. on the playlist!)

17. boring town - less than jake
(yeah... did i ever tell you about that brief ska phase when i was 15?)

18. playmate of the year - zebrahead
(remember that inner 12 year old boy I was talking about earlier? Yup, can't stop laughing)

19. mine - taylor swift
(i first heard this song right after i found out i was pregnant. i'll blame the hormones for bawling my eyes out when I heard it. Seriously! WHO CRIES AT THIS SONG?!?! That Christmas my cousin Emma made me sing-a-long 50 million times to this song. It slowly became a guilty pleasure sing-a-long song. Happy to report there are no longer tears shed when I hear this song.)

20. untouched - the veronicas
(i'm notorious for putting a bunch of crap onto CD with two really good songs because i just NEED those two newly downloaded songs to blare in my car. on a roadtrip to Vegas this song was one of the "crappy" ones but my friend Ozzie got addicted to it and it slowly became a crappy staple song on future mix CD's. shimmy in your seat while you sing-a-long to this song)

a weekend in pictures

Charlie gets the food stuff. I'm lucky if I'm able to finish a can of my favorite
sparkling water while it's still cold. 

Probably thinking "my mom is such a nerd!"

the joys of motherhood

I can't find enough words to describe how proud I am of him. He graduated
and the amount of tears I shed were redic! Check out his work here. 

get in my belly: Charlie food uno

This is what an average "prep" session starts off as. I buy only organic fruits and vegetables
and I try my hardest to only buy locally grown produce. Produce can sometimes get expensive
so I find hitting up the local farmer's markets have the best deals and the produce is locally grown!

When I found out I was pregnant I made the decision that I wanted to make my own baby food. I like the idea of knowing what my child is eating. I did a lot of research to find recipes, tools, etc. One day I stumbled across the Beaba babycook. This was my first find that not only chopped up the veggies, fruits, etc. it also steamed them!! One day the Beaba babycook arrived on my front stoop (thank you, mama!!). It takes 15 minutes to steam whatever needs to be steamed and chops it up in no time. Charlie loves his food so I find myself preparing food for him three-four times a week. Here are some snapshots I took a few days ago when I was preparing his food. 

Sometimes I'll steam veggies on the stove to cut down on time.

These mangos are ready to be steamed.

To steam you click it to the left and it lights up. When it's done the light goes off. 

When it's done steaming you take out the basket filled with whatever was just steamed
and dump it into the blender part. Click the dial to the right until it's chopped/blended.  

This is what my fridge looks like (it's normally a bit more full of Charlie food).

I find it helpful to label the containers of food with what it is and the date it was made.  

a weekend in pictures

August, why do you have to be so miserable? and by miserable I mean so effin hot?!?! We're currently in the middle of a heat wave. It's hard to believe this time last year I was dealing with the exact thing except I was how many pounds heavier due to being 7 months pregnant and I was already uncomfortable. I've had flashbacks to a year ago. Mostly when I start a cleaning/organizing project and I find myself on my floor almost in tears wishing I had A/C. Okay, thats a little dramatic but you get the point. When it's this hot I find cleaning, laundry, etc. takes a bit of a back seat. C and I have been living in diapers (okay, well he has) and bathing suits (me). Last year I found myself running errands like crazy just so I could be in the A/C. I've decided to do the same this year. Except it's hard with a nine month old who just wants to get on the floor and crawl all over the place. I decided Sunday would be a beach day. This was my first time taking Charlie with me. There were several reasons I haven't. The main one being I was completely overwhelmed doing it by myself. In the end I'm glad I did and I'm very thankful one of my friends decided to come with. Thank you, Lindsay!! I already knew C loved the pool but wasn't sure if he'd like the ocean. He loved the waves hitting his little legs. We sat in the sand for a bit and took in the scenery. There was only one person missing while I was experiencing all of this. I wish he could've been there to see Charlie's face light up when the waves rolled in, etc. That's another reason I'm glad Lindsay was there. She was a good friend and a big help with the little wiggle worm. As I write this it's 5am and I've barely slept. If it wasn't for one of my dear friends coming over and helping out I'd be a complete wreck right now. Charlie's puffy (not as puffy as before) from an allergic reaction to something or it could be a reaction to teething. My allergies are really bad right now and I got an allergic reaction to an insect bite (mergh!). I think the rest of today should prove interesting. It's a hand full doing it all on your own!  

a weekend in pictures

Charlie & Hakeem the hippo watching the Olympics 

a little bit of life