friday love, no links

My favorite movie is You've Got Mail.  I wish it was something more profound than that like the 1960s edition of War & Peace or maybe Citizen Kane, but no.  You've Got Mail.  Darrell is convinced I only like it so much because Kathleen Kelly is my spirit animal and if that's true I'll take it.  If not my spirit animal she's probably my idol.  That image of her marching to work at her bookstore, black opaque tights on with her wool skirt & coffee in hand will forever be one of my most prized sources of inspiration.  Although that movie ends with spring in the park, everybody knows that the best part is the beginning, with tales of Brinkley eating pizza & freshly sharpened pencils, the kind of witty repartee that only the nerdiest of us truly appreciate, always done best by Ms. Ephron.  

When that first cool, crisp fall air hits you and feels so so good,  there is so much promise.  Me & this baby girl (and what is promise if not a baby) are going to be doing our best to really enjoy this time over the weekend.  We'll take walks in Forest Park, brunch with family, devour Lena Dunham's new book & spend Friday night in cooking dinner.  We'll spend 72 hours absolutely refusing to think about the fact that any world exists past December, and soak in all the magic that is October.  Really though, that magic is always there in our teeny apartment with our tiny babe, just waiting for us to notice it and live in it.  

I don't have any links this week, truth be told I haven't been spending nearly as much time in front of my computer, but I wish you all a really wonderful October weekend 

(as if there were any other kind.)  

awkward and awesome tuesday

Awkward: 

Feeling distinctively American when talking to Isabella Oliver's customer service.  “yes, see, I put in the wrong zip code for my order….post code?  is that the same thing?  well sure then, the post code, whatever.”  just get that dress to me lady, even though i am surely not sophisticated enough for your fancy european maternity clothes.

Pregnancy balance issues: oh yeah, I can totally do that yoga pose.  Grab foot, extend leg, fall flat on the floor.  Yeah guys, i’m fine.

Deciding to make homemade red sauce for dinner, them realizing we don't have enough of any one SINGLE type of noodle to eat dinner without mixing then.  I call it "pasta di due" which really sounds better than "half penne half linguine.”

That moment when someone says “I can’t wait to give you the gift I got you!”  and mentally you think "get insert-name-here a gift…"

When the waitress at brunch takes drink orders, and it’s “decaf coffee (me), bloody mary, bloody mary, bloody mary” and she asks if I’d like to reconsider.  Um, no thanks ma’am, though I would love to have one, I’m pregnant.  Really, this was just awkward for her.


Awesome:

The nesting instinct.  My home life is suddenly a personal contest to try and bake the most things in a week.  So far I’ve made these,  this, and this.  

A double date at the Garden Glow at Missouri Botanical Gardens - it was, just as my husband described it, magical.  There was mistletoe, thousands of twinkling lights, a live band, and so much hot chocolate!

Watching You’ve Got Mail for the 100000th time, hearing Kathleen Kelly say “because when you read a book as a child it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading does” and realizing how very excited I am to start reading to this baby.

The dress I ordered for our party showing up exactly 4 hours beforehand, and having it fit perfectly.  When does that EVER happen?  

Getting together with friends to celebrate Christmas this past weekend.  It was certainly a more low key party than the one we threw last year, but lovely as ever to have everyone we love in our home.  We have another big bash this weekend that we're really looking forward to!  

*Awkward and awesome posts are now going to come with our weekly bump pics!  We snapped this just before heading out to the light show at the botanical gardens, which explains the head to toe long johns and fleece.